History

The former Steuben County Jail is a conglomeration of architectural styles. It is included in the National Register of Historic Places. Although it is more than a century old, this building was not the first jail in the county. The first jail was constructed of hewn logs and was located to the rear and slightly northeast of this building. In 1839, a frame was built over and around the old one with the log structure still acting as a cell.

The former jail, with the exception of the addition of office space in 1961, and the new cell facilities in 1971, has stood for 121 years on South Wayne Street in Angola. The brick and concrete structure, completed in 1877, cost $21,144 to build and housed the jail, the sheriff’s residence, and his office. The windows are low to the floor because that was how one gained access to the porch.

Originally, the front rooms along with the upstairs served as the sheriff’s home, except for two small cells, which served as cells for women or children. Mentally ill prisoners were kept in the basement. The last sheriff to reside in this building was Sheriff Paul Gordon in 1977. In 1920, Sheriff George Delancey’s salary was $1,800.00 plus fuel and heat. This building was used as a jail until 1990 when prisoners won a lawsuit alleging unsafe conditions and the county was forced to build a new jail. The new and present jail was built in 1991 at the cost of approximately 7.5 million dollars.

At the time the new jail was being constructed, the staff included the Sheriff, Chief Deputy, 13 deputies, 9 jailers, 7 dispatchers, the Jail Matron, Records Clerk, Bookkeeper, and 2 cooks. When the new jail facility opened in April of 1992, the staff had been increased to 15 deputies, 20 jailers, 3 cooks, and an additional receptionist. Also in 1992, the dispatch center was separated from the Sheriff’s Office and became its own county department coinciding with the addition of 911 services to the county that Fall.

As far as we have been able to determine, no infamous criminals have been detained here although there have been rumors that John Dillinger, a bank robber out of Chicago, spent time in this jail. A story has been told that a sheriff from Auburn, a town just 15 miles south of Angola, had bragged about how he would put John Dillinger in his jail. After the rumor spread, Dillinger caught up with the sheriff and proceeded to put the sheriff behind his own bars. Another story tells how Dillinger escaped from a jail by shaping a bar of soap to look like a gun and then covering it with shoe polish.

Today, the former jail still stands in the same location, has been remodeled, and is now occupied by the Steuben County Community Corrections.