Kalamazoo County Jail

The County “Cooler” in Downtown Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo wasn’t exactly a “wild west” sort of town in its early days. According to historians, “Kalamazoo was noted for being one of the most orderly places of its size in the country.” Still, the county jail was seen as a necessary deterrent to crime, “a terror to evil-doers… a flaming sword held before the eyes of the evil-minded to terrify them from deeds of evil” (Gazette).

The original 1831 “Plat of the Town of Brunson[sic]” identified four public squares along the south side of Main Street near the center of the village: “Publick[sic] Square or Court House Square,” “Academy Square,” “Church Square,” and “Jail Square.” Jail Square took up the western half of what would later become Bronson Park, with Jail Street (later called Park Street) bordering it to the west. At that time, Church Street ran through to South Street, separating Jail Square from Academy Square.

First Jail (1835-1845)

The first jail in the village of Bronson was built in 1835 by David Hubbard for less than $1,000. It was “a low, long log building,” 32 feet long by 16 feet wide, one story high. It stood on Jail Square (west half of today’s Bronson Park), with its “fronting in South Street a few feet east of the mound.” The building was divided into two sections, a 20-foot by 16-foot room, “framed in a substantial and workmanlike manner,” that served as the sheriff’s quarters, and a second 12-foot by 16-foot holding room divided into cells. The holding area was made of white oak timber, one foot square, with wood planks “spiked on the timbers and battened with slabs.” A door made of wood planks, “three inches thick, double and riveted,” separated the two rooms. Three large windows, each with fifteen 8 x 10-inch glass panes, allowed light into the sheriff’s quarters, while the exterior was “well boarded with good white-wood siding, planed, and covered with pine shingles” (Gazette).

“A most amusing humbug…”

As the years went by, the old jail building became somewhat of a joke when it came to keeping its inhabitants contained. “It was a mere lodgement for prisoners,” recalled the Gazette, “for, easily putting aside the restraints the law had vainly put upon them, the criminals went in and out as it suited them, either by letting down a slab or raising a portion of the roof, or by taking up a portion of the floor… a most amusing humbug.”

“Numbers of individuals have entered by the doorway accompanied by an officer, and departed by means of apertures made in the walls of the edifice, with very inadequate tools, requiring much toil and some reticence”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, 24 January 1937

By 1843, the community had grown such that a more substantial jail building was needed. Committees were formed and the slow but steady process of replacing the older structure began. In November 1845, the old jailhouse was sold for $35 and moved to Cooley Street, south of Eleanor, where it would serve as a private residence until the 1920s.

“Red Eagle” (1845-1868)

Meanwhile, Israel Kellogg was contracted to build a new jailhouse and sheriff’s quarters at a cost “not to exceed $2,000” (the final cost was $2,244.50). This time they would forego Jail Square and build it on Court House Square near the corner of Academy and Rose streets. More substantial than its predecessor and “well built,” the two-story building was made “of heavy square timber on all sides and overhead and then bricked up on the outside with a wall 16 inches thick for the first story.” In 1847, a kitchen was added in the rear of the building for the sheriff and his family at a cost of $200. Over the years, the brick jailhouse would become known as the “Red Eagle” (Gazette).

Third Jail (1868-1937)

By 1859, the old “Red Eagle” jailhouse had become a “gloomy time-beaten, weather-worn and burglar-scarred bastile… unfit and unsafe for prisoners” (Gazette). But the Civil War was just beginning, and such work on county buildings would be delayed for a number of years. After the war, however, the board of supervisors resumed discussion about a new jail, but still no immediate action was taken.

Things changed suddenly in December 1867, when Kalamazoo County Sheriff, Col. Benjamin F. Orcutt, was mortally wounded one night during an attempted jailbreak. Orcutt died soon after, which prompted an immediate call to action for replacement of the aging structure. The county proposed borrowing $40,000 for the construction of a new jail and sheriff’s residence and put it before the voters in April 1868. The proposal was approved by “a large majority” (Telegraph).

The new building would consist of “a jail proper and a commodious dwelling for the use of the sheriff and family, or whoever should act as jailer” (Gazette). It was erected on the south side of Court House Square facing Rose Street, slightly south and west of the existing jail. Bids for construction were solicited in May, and Kalamazoo builders Frederick Bush and Thomas Paterson were awarded the contract. By July, the foundations were in place and work on the building had begun. The building was completed in the spring of 1869 and made “open for inspection by the public” (Telegraph) during a reception in early March. Kalamazoo’s third jail building would serve the community and county for nearly 70 years.

“As our taxpayers are at the expense of building this necessary stronghold, they are invited to inspect the building and notice its arrangements. Next week it will be occupied by those whose visits to its apartments will most likely be involuntary.”

—Kalamazoo Telegraph, 3 March 1869

Fourth Jail (1937-1972)

By 1930, Kalamazoo’s courthouse was considered outdated, and the jailhouse next to it was viewed as a “decrepit, unsanitary structure” that had “been condemned several times by state authorities” (Gazette). City leaders put forth a proposal to replace the existing courthouse and jail with a single combined facility. Plans were drawn up and a funding proposal for such a project was put before the voters in April 1931, but it failed by a substantial margin. Given the economic conditions at the time, voters couldn’t justify the expense.

As the Great Depression wore on, the federal government’s newly created Public Works Administration made funds available for highways and public buildings. The county board of supervisors voted to apply for assistance, and the federal government responded with a $730,900 appropriation for the construction of a combined courthouse and jail in Kalamazoo. In September 1933, taxpayers approved a $206,000 bond proposal and the project was allowed to move forward.

The new combined facility was designed by Kalamazoo architect Milton C.J. Billingham and the Detroit firm of Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls, Inc. The O.F. Miller Company of Kalamazoo (forerunner of Miller Lumber and later, Miller-Davis) began construction in January 1936, and after 16 months of work, the new courthouse and jail was complete.

It was a sunny Friday morning in April 1937 when sheriff’s deputies, jail employees, and trusted inmates began the task of carrying record books and equipment over to the newly completed county building. By Monday, workers from the Miller Construction Company had already begun demolishing the old “dilapidated and twice-condemned” (Gazette) 1868 jailhouse next door. The Kalamazoo County sheriff’s office and county jail would occupy the top floor of the Michigan Avenue courthouse until 1972 when they were moved to the current facility on Lamont Avenue.

“The county study committee reported at the December session that the present jail, located on the top floor of the County Building, would be wholly inadequate by 1965.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, 14 February 1960

1500 Lamont Avenue (1972)

By 1967, a community services subcommittee had determined that the “inadequacy” of the jail was among the most “crucial problems” facing the community at that time. The jail had “almost reached its total capacity” while shocking reports of physical and sexual assaults among prisoners prompted a detailed investigation. A state jail inspector said, “there isn’t a worse jail in the state” (Gazette).

A Jail in Bronson Park?

It was determined that a new county jail would be the answer, but the question remained about exactly where it should go. Since state law required the facility be within the boundaries of the county seat (i.e. Kalamazoo’s city limits), some 17 possible locations were suggested, including a site adjacent to the municipal police building at the corner of Rose and Lovell. One possible solution that gained a lot of attention was for a six-story structure to be built between the existing county building and Bronson Park, which would have required closing a portion of Academy Street. Supporters of the project insisted that the proposed jail building would not detract from the “aesthetics of Bronson Park” (Gazette), although community advocates felt otherwise.

In February 1970, a site in the southwest corner of the fairgrounds on Lake Street was chosen. The location bordered the east edge of the city limits so the city would need to annex to the site to comply with the law. A proposal for funding such a project was put before the voters in August 1970 and was approved by a 2-1 margin.

Construction of the $5 million law enforcement complex got underway with a groundbreaking ceremony in July 1971. After more than five years of planning and discussion, the new 113,000 square foot facility, which could lodge up to four times the number of inmates as the old jail, opened in December 1972. A 75,000-square-foot annex was later added, along with a medical and mental health wing. In January 2023, the Kalamazoo County sheriff’s office commemorated the 50th anniversary of the building at 1500 Lamont Avenue.

Written by Keith Howard, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, January 2025
Special thanks to Lynn Houghton, Regional History Curator at the Zhang Legacy Collections Center (WMU), for additional information, photos, resources, and expertise.