Juab Co. Jail

Before this, Juab County locked its prisoners in a Social Hall basement, then in a red-painted box of thick planks. In 1892, four years before Utah was a state, the county paid the Pauley Jail Building Company of St. Louis $8,916 for something sterner: a two-story brick jail fitted with riveted iron cages and a heavy metal ceiling put together like a ship's hull. The plaque allows that its occupants, over the years, knew their share of sorrow and remorse — and bitterness too. The old lockup still stands in Nephi.

What the plaque says

This building has two markers Daughters of Utah Pioneers Marker Prisoners from Juab county were first held in the basement of the Social Hall that stood on the corner of Center Street and Second East in Nephi. The next jail was a sturdy frame building built of thick heavy planks painted red located directly south and west of the old courthouse. This Juab County Jail was built in the Territory of Utah four years before Utah became a state. The contract for construction of this jail was awarded July 13, 1892, to Pauley Jail Building and Manufacturing Company, St. Louis, Missouri, for $8,916. This two-story brick building is unique with iron cages and interior ceiling of heavy metal similar to a ship. Occupants through the years have known sorrow, repentance and remorse. Some were filled with bitterness and revenge. Suffice it to say that the old jail served the purpose for which it was constructed and remained in use until 1974. This Museum and Community Center consists of part of the old Juab County Court House, the jail and a pioneer implement building known as the Brough Building. Pioneer memorabilia are kept and displayed in this complex. Division of State History Marker Built by the Pauley Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1892, the Juab County Jail played a central role in county law enforcement activities. Located adjacent to the county courthouse in Nephi, the building served as a territorial jail until Utah was granted statehood in 1896. It was the principal jail in the county until March 1974, when the Tri-county Detention Center was opened in Nephi. The Juab County Jail, with its two-story height and intact interior, is one of the largest and best-preserved late-nineteenth-century jails remaining in Utah. This brick rectangular building with a sandstone foundation and a hip roof exhibits typical Late Victorian detailing such as the brick segmental arches over the windows and doors and a band of corbelled brick just below the eaves. The only significant alteration is the c. 1915 addition of a concrete, basement-level heating plant and accompanying large brick chimney attached to the north side of the jail. The top of the chimney has a simple geometric designs in cast concrete, reflecting the Prairie School style of architecture that was popular during the early twentieth century. Marker placed in 2000

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Nephi — steps away
  A quiet ranching town at the foot of Mount Nebo
• Devil's Kitchen — 8.5 mi
  A pocket of red-rock hoodoos high in the green Wasatch — a "little Bryce Canyon"
• Mount Nebo — 8.8 mi
  At 11,928 feet, the highest and southernmost peak in the Wasatch Range
• Nebo Loop Summit — 12 mi
  The byway's 9,300-foot high point, with Utah Valley spread out below

More markers nearby

• World War II Memorial Rose Garden — steps away
• Juab County Veterans Memorial — 0.2 mi
• First School — 0.6 mi
• Salt Creek Fort Wall — 0.6 mi