The Huron Historic Gaol was established as the Huron County

Gaol A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...

for Upper Canada's Huron District. Clearing of the land began in

Goderich, Ontario Goderich ( or ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario and is the county seat of Huron County. The town was founded by John Galt and William "Tiger" Dunlop of the Canada Company in 1827. First laid out in 1828, the town is named after ...

in 1839 and the jail was constructed between 1839 and 1842 using stone from the

Maitland River The Maitland River is a river in Huron County, Perth County and Wellington County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Shows the course of the river highlighted on a topographic map. The river is in the Great Lakes Basin and empties into Lake Huro ...

Valley and from Michigan. The octagonal jail was designed by Thomas Young, modelled after Jeremy Bentham’s

Panopticon The panopticon is a type of institutional building and a system of control designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept of the design is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be o ...

design for prison construction, common in mid-19th century Britain and North America. A temporary courtroom and Council Chambers were set up on the jail’s third floor. It was in this makeshift Council Chamber that the first Huron District Council meeting was held on February 8, 1842. The third floor was also used for church services and other public gatherings before proper buildings were available. The building served the dual purpose of jail and

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

until the construction of the county courthouse was completed in 1856, in the centre of Goderich’s Market Square. The site ceased functioning as a jail serving Huron County in 1972 and inmates were then transferred to Walkerton and Stratford jails. It was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as bein ...

in 1973.

Hangings

Three inmates were hanged at the jail, with two of the hangings conducted publicly. On December 18, 1861 William Mahone was hanged outside the jail walls. An exterior wall of the jail was the location of the last

public execution A public execution is a form of capital punishment which "members of the general public may voluntarily attend." This definition excludes the presence of only a small number of witnesses called upon to assure executive accountability. The purpose ...

that occurred in Canada, when on December 7, 1869, Nicholas Melady was hanged for the murder of his father and

stepmother A stepmother, stepmum or stepmom is a non-biological female parent married to one's preexisting parent. A stepmother-in-law is a stepmother of one's spouse. Children from her spouse's previous unions are known as her stepchildren. Culture Step ...

. Edward Jardine was hanged privately on June 16, 1911. Steven Truscott awaited execution in the Huron County Gaol from September 30, 1959, when he was convicted at age 14 of the murder of Lynne Harper, until his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment on January 22, 1960. On August 28, 2007, Truscott was acquitted of the charges.

Museum

The jail and adjoining early 20th century period governor's house opened to the public as a museum on Saturday June 29, 1974. The museum is open to the public from May to October and is owned and operated by the County of Huron. Admission is charged. The jail has been refurbished to its approximate state in Victorian times. There is a gift shop selling souvenirs of the jail and Huron County.

Affiliations

The Museum is affiliated with: CMA,

CHIN The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible ( mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a well-developed chin is considered to be on ...

, and

Virtual Museum of Canada The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity. Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) ...

References

Sources

www.huroncounty.ca/museum
* Melady, John (2005). Double Trap: The Last Public Hanging In Canada. Dundern Press. . * Sher, Julian (2002). "Until You Are Dead": Steven Truscott's Long Ride Into History. Vintage Canada. . {{coord, 43.7499, -81.7083, type:landmark_region:CA, display=title Defunct prisons in Ontario Historic house museums in Ontario Museums in Huron County, Ontario Octagonal buildings in Canada Prison museums in Canada Goderich, Ontario Buildings and structures in Huron County, Ontario Tourist attractions in Huron County, Ontario National Historic Sites in Ontario 1842 establishments in Canada 1972 disestablishments in Ontario

Hangings

Museum

Affiliations

See also

References

Sources