The Old County Jail
"The Bastille"
This Kings County Jail was built in 1897 as the Kings County Sheriff's Office and Jail at a cost of $9,505.65. It continued in that use until 1964 when the new jail was built on West Lacey Blvd.
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The architects were McDougal Brothers, the same architects who were later to design the Carnegie Library after the turn of the century. The front of the building was made of brick with its granite framed entry and tower suggesting Gothic and Romanesque styles of architecture. The walls of the rear portion, which held prisoners, were made of heavy granite blocks, each weighing from 1-1/2 to 2 tons. All of the jail portion of the structure is solid granite (with the exception of the roof), and there are 13 layers of block built up.
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The 40' x 40' upstairs consisted of a women's cell and two 12' x 17' rooms, one of which had been a cell for juveniles and the other for picture taking and fingerprinting. There is widespread belief that one of the women prisoners, named Mary, hanged herself and that her ghost still inhabits the jail. It is said that her silhouette frequently appears against the windows. One of the cooks told one of our guides that Mary had disarranged the straightened table in one of the cell "booths" on the main floor and shut the door, which had been left open.
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The main floor held two 12' x 17' rooms used by the sheriff and secretary, plus an 18' x 24' main room used as the booking area. To the rear were four eight-man cells measuring 12' x 15' with lifting suspended bunks, which were raised vertically during the day. Floors are concrete and the cell area has a gutter around the perimeter so it could be hosed down.
Four small solitary confinement cells were at the west side of the rear area, as well as showers with iron grating overhead and latticed metal security doors housed in granite. Also a washroom was located in the back area. These cells have been converted to "private" dining booths.
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According to a Hanford Sentinel story from 1907, no criminal ever escaped from the jail. The lower portion of the jail was for the general population. Cells upstairs were reserved for those deemed "sick or insane. The average number of prisoners at any one time, as of 1907, was around 10. While the jail proved exceptionally sturdy, with most of its large, nearly vault-like security measures still in place, it wasn't necessarily a place for hardened criminals.
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It has been the site of several restaurants/bars but was closed in 2009 when the bar operation had become a drain on law enforcement resources and never reopened. It is currently vacant and in need of significant upgrades in order to open for business again. The City of Hanford owns the building.
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-with writing by Parker Bowman "A Place Called Home"