The Old Tulare County Jail

The Old Tulare County Jail. . In 1854 the supervisors of Tulare County authorized construction of a 16' x 16' oak log structure with a courthouse upstairs and jail downstairs. Before this, the most dangerous prisoners were chained to a large oak log out in the open. In 1858 a brick courthouse was constructed with the jail again on the ground floor. The prisoners were still placed in chains bolted to the oak floor. This served both the county and city of Visalia. In 1870 the county jail was no longer to be used as a city jail. In August of 1870 the Visalia Delta noted "the other day we noticed a prisoner of the city chained to an oak tree in the courthouse yard, we think this an outrage in a civilized community." Three years later a 14' x 24' city jail was constructed. In 1876 a new courthouse was built with the jail on the ground floor. This and earlier jails were not escape proof and were too small as the county grew in size. In 1890 a new updated county jail was built on this site. It was constructed of brick and was two stories high with a basement, and it was considered escape proof. In September of 1891 Grat and William Dalton of the famous Dalton Gang were imprisoned here on suspicion of train robbery. Grat was found guilty. The other gang members headed back to Indian territory. Grat boasted this jail would not hold him. After having the other prisoners sing loudly for two days to cover the noise of him sawing his cell bars, Grat escaped during the night of September 27, 1891. The jail originally fronted on Church Street. When rebuilt in 1918, the entry was changed to the Oak Street side as it is to this day.