Bloomington (Monroe County, Indiana), Evening World, September 11, 1922,
page 1.
MANY TOURISTS VISIT OLD LOG JAIL AT NASHVILLE
Completion of the state road from Columbus to Nashville and the work
attending the new highway leading to Bloomington has brought increased
numbers of week-end visitors to this village this summer. The residents are
taking an unusual interest in providing better facilities for the tourists
who are expected to come in throngs just as soon as Jack Frost touches the
landscape with autumn's colors.
The old log jail, frequently referred to as a historic shrine, is visited
time and again by the "furriners," yet few of them know the real facts about
its construction and present use.
The building was erected about 1838 by James Taggart, grandfather of James
Kennedy, who was sheriff of Brown county from 1915-1919. Mr. Taggart had an
able assistant named William Snider and these workmen cut the trees and
hewed the logs for the "two layer" structure that was passed on favorably by
the county commissioners. Originally there was no doorway on the lower
floor. A stairway led to the upper room, where the prisoners were houses
irrespective of sex. In the center of the room was a large and heavy
trapdoor, which was raised at night and the prisoners were compelled to
descend by a ladder to the room below where beds were arranged. This
trapdoor was extremely heavy and was securely fastened from above after the
prisoners had been transferred to the ground floor.