Litchfield County Jail

The old Litchfield County Jail, at 7 North Street in Litchfield, built in 1812, is the oldest public building in town and one of the oldest penal facilities in the state. It also has the distinction, unique in the nation, of sharing for many years a wall with the adjacent bank. The jail had a cell block added in 1846 and a three-story wing with additional cell blocks in 1900. In 1992, the jail became a drug treatment center for 30 men serving prison sentences, but was shut down in 1993 and reopened the following year as McAuliffe Manor, a rehabilitation center for women. Since that center’s closing in 2010, the state has sought to sell the building. Among the possibilities being considered for the future of the facility are its conversion into municipal offices or its acquisition by the adjoining bank.