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The Old Jail (aka "The Cooler")

A brief history of the Ash Grove Jail

The Ash Grove Jail House, built in 1919, is located south of the railroad tracks on Calhoun Avenue. Although it was not the first jail in Ash Grove, it has proven to be the most secure. The story goes that some enterprising criminals escaped from the first jail by lifting off the roof and climbing over the walls. When the new jail was built, the citizens did not want this to happen again, so they put sections of railroad rail in the roof, giant railcar springs in the walls, and then poured tons of concrete to add to the security. Their construction efforts paid off in that the new jail, name the Cooler, has never been escaped from.

Another interesting fact about the jail is that there is a door in it from the original jail. The door has several drawings and carvings, with one particularly fascinating profile of a woman's face. The door also has recorded on it the name of the infamous, yet unknown, Oklahoma Slim, who evidently served time in the original jail, in 1918.

While the building remains, its services as a jail have since been moved to the County facility in Springfield, Missouri. Today, any occasional Ash Grove desperado is incarcerated there.

Written by Shane Watts in Ash Grove Historic Sites and Points of Interest, June 1, 1984

This page was last updated on: 01/11/2008