Squirrel Cage Jail

Council Bluffs, IA

visited June 26 2025. bucket list ✔️

dark and gloomy outside. chatty docent. $10 admission. bought book, t-shirt, postcard. fascinating place. prisoners wore their own clothes. you showered in your clothes. no laundry facilities in early days. mainly men. but also women, juveniles, children. cells tiny. some of jail still being set up. top floor is an apartment with beautiful windows. Lots of prisoner injuries from sticking body parts thru bars when cage turned. short term prisoners bottom floor. booking and kitchen bottom floor. longer term prisoners second floor. longest on third floor. 849 steps.