Old Cooper County Jail
Name: Cooper County Jail, Sheriff's Home, and Hanging Barn
Location: 614 East Morgan Boonville, Missouri
Built: 1848
In 1848, the Boonville newspaper published a notice that Boonville needed a county jail to include a house two stories high, with two rooms, and a passage on each floor. The labor was to be built by slaves.
In 1871 the second floor was fitted with an iron box cell that remains today. Also added to the sheriff's office were a hallway and a two-room addition made of brick.
The addition of a kitchen to the first floor and a porch on the west wing were made a year later. The brick addition served as the sheriff's home until the 1960's when the sheriff's office was moved inside the Cooper County Courthouse.
The barn behind the jail became a garage. In 1930 the barn was the site of the last public hanging of a juvenile. The backyard of the jail served as an exercise yard and at least eight other hangings took place there.
Until its closing in 1978, the Cooper County Jail was the oldest jail in continuous use in the State of Missouri.
This page was constructed by: Amanda Dodson
Other Links to Cooper County Jail
This project was funded through a grant from Boonville Tourism
Commission
For more information on this historical site click here