Old Jail Museum

Truckee’s historic jail museum is one of only a few surviving 19th century jailhouses of its kind in the West and one of the few remaining original buildings in Truckee. The old Bastille was used continuously from 1875 until May 1964, and ably withstood the many fires that swept the town in its early days. Although jails are usually sturdy, Truckee’s is a virtual strongbox. The original building consisted of just the lower level, constructed of native stone. The walls are 32 inches thick at the lower level, with no windows unless one counts the small vents for each cell, which are set with irregular rows of two-inch steel bars. The ceilings are plate steel, insulated with dirt, and lined with narrow gauge railroad tracks. All doors are riveted steel, weighing an estimated 200 pounds each.  The need for a jail in Truckee was proposed in August 1873. At the time the only place to hold prisoners was a calaboose in the center of Brickelltown that proved inadequate to house the number of rowdy “guests” consigned there by local lawmen.