Warren County Jail - 1845

The jail cells located in the museum basement were constructed in 1845. Prisoners were managed by a jailor who lived in the building with his family.  The prisoners did spend time out of the confines of this space - i.e. "the sixteen prisoners in the county jail at Caldwell* will be set at work on the main highway just north of the village, which will be widened and leveled" (The Warrensburg News, March 18, 1897)

"Jail liberties" were created in 1813 so that "the unhappy lot of the imprisoned DEBTOR was somewhat alleviated by the granting of jail liberties" within the legally designated perimeters outside the jail house.  These prisoners (if someone posted bail for this purpose) could swim, fish boat, ice skate or roam the area with maybe an occasional stop at the Coffee House.  They did have the opportunity to work to pay off some of their debts.

Information found in a pre-1900 newspaper article tells about a correspondent of the London Law Times inspecting some of the prisons in New York state: "Prisoners intermingle freely, there is scarcely an attempt at classification, and -- well, I won't refer to the sanitary conditions. . . . . a word about the prison of Warren county, which is not inaptly named the Hotel Bellevue.  The windows of the lower floor open directly upon the pavement.  There is nothing to prevent communication whether verbal or manual, between prisoners and passersby. . . . the prisoners have no work of any kind and spend their time loafing in the corridors smoking and playing cards." Not long after 1900 a new and improved two-story jail was built in back of the court house.

*Lake George Village was known as Caldwell until 1903