History
The 1910 Jail, which was built of reinforced poured concrete in 1910 was considered state of the art and first rate at the time. It included three floors to house the criminal elements and was often filled to capacity during its seventy-year tenure.
The first floor housed one of two cell ‘tanks’ for prisoners as well as the residence of the Sheriff and offices for his support staff. Each tank, as it was called was a concrete and steel room designed with seven cells measuring 8ft x 6ft which housed four inmates each. An upper and lower bunk made of steel webbing was built into either side of the cell with barely 4ft of standing room between them. A common toilet and sink was incorporated shared by each of the 28 inmates per tank.
Some of the doors and levers came from the old territorial jail in Yuma which closed just one year before the Gila Jail opened in 1910. Although rusted over and frozen in place during the ensuing years the jail was abandoned, they have since been restored to working order.
The second floor housed a second tank of 28 cells identical to the first-floor tank. There was also the woman’s tank with slightly larger cells with only two bunks each for female lawbreakers. Also, they housed juveniles here keeping them from the male population.
This floor also included a cell within a cell, separated from all the others designed for crazy ones and the especially violent prisoners. Thought to be impenetrable, it was the site of one of the most famous murders in 1910 when a prisoner, accused of killing of two young girls, was shot and killed through the prison bars in the early morning hours while he slept on his cot. The case was never solved.
The third-floor housed the trustees ‘dorm’ which was their work release program where inmates would report back in the evening and weekends. Trustees also did menial tasks such as cleaning cells and minor repairs. Also on the level was a catwalk nicknamed The Bridge Of Sighs, where prisoners were transported to and from the courthouse next door.
The last hanging in Globe took place in 1905 when Zachary Booth waved his hat for the last time, pronounced his innocence and was dropped from the gallows. Future executions were later moved to Florence after that and the county jail mostly housed criminals in for rustling, rape, 2nd degree murder and stealing. By the 1970s there were numerous accounts of the deplorable conditions of the county jail and was officially closed in 1981.
