This past weekend, I participated in the Doors Open Winnipeg event by taking a tour of the former Vaughan Street Jail in Winnipeg. Doors Open is a free weekend-long event that takes place annually during the last weekend in May in cities across Canada, where historic buildings that are otherwise not accessible to the public open their doors to allow visitors to explore inside and take tours. It is a fantastic educational event and is a great way to learn about the history of the buildings and see some interesting architecture as well. In Winnipeg, the list of buildings included former banks, houses with historical significance, government buildings, a variety of cathedrals and churches, and of course, the Vaughan Street Jail.

In addition to touring the Vaughan Street Jail, I also checked out the Parish of Saint Luke Church in Osborne Village and the Manitoba Legislative Building, both of which were beautiful historic buildings and featured some amazing and detailed architecture. But this post will focus on my experience at the jail.

The Vaughan Street Jail was a jail built in 1881 that now sits vacant at 444 York Street in downtown Winnipeg, beside the Law Courts building. I have passed by this building many times but had never been inside until today. Along the exterior walls of the historic brick building, were old windows that were broken and had cracks along with rusty bars across them.

My mother and I arrived at the jail in the morning, about an hour after they had started to give tours. There was a line-up but it wasn’t too long and we only had to wait around 10-15 minutes before another tour group was allowed inside. While waiting in line, we were entertained with actors and actresses playing people who were formerly imprisoned at the jail and telling us about their stories and providing insights into the terrible living conditions at the jail.

The jail housed men, women and children (as young as five years old) who had committed a wide variety of crimes ranging from stealing an apple or a silver spoon, not going to school (for children), prostitution, having an argument with and not obeying one’s husband (for women) to drunkenness, homosexuality, causing a public disturbance, theft/robbery, and murder. All of these people were housed together and many of them suffered from physical and/or mental illnesses.

Once inside, we climbed a narrow set of stairs to the second level. Our large tour group visited a few separate areas on this floor where four local volunteers dressed in old-fashioned clothing and acting as a former prisoner at the jail, told us the story about their life leading up to their incarceration and while living inside the jail, along with interesting facts about the jail itself. I was shocked and appalled to hear about how the women, men and children imprisoned there, were treated! It was so barbaric. They were all warehoused together in cells at the jail, where they were fed only bread and water and many of the prisoners were imprisoned for such minor “crimes.” The second level consisted of a few open areas that were separated by walls, where former prison cells had been located (they have since been removed). I could see the lines on the floor where the walls of the cells had been and the volunteers informed us that there were sometimes up to six people sharing one of these small cells!

The interior of the building was old, rundown and dirty. The windows were old and covered in dust and grime and the paint was peeling and chipping away from the walls.

After visiting the second floor, we made our way down to the basement of the jail, which was my favourite part of the tour. The area was cramped, damp (and it was tight to fit everybody from our 25-30 person or so tour group down there!) and dimly lit with white Christmas lights strung up along the pipes on the low ceiling. It felt like a dungeon and was eerie. The paint on the walls was seriously peeling off and chipping. We walked down a long and very narrow and dark hallway where there were original cells located along one side of the hallway, which was very cool and I had no idea these still existed in this building. The cells were so tiny and consisted of only a metal and very uncomfortable looking cot against one wall, a toilet and sink, cold cement floor, and iron barred door. There were no windows or natural light and I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for the prisoners who actually spent part of their lives down there! We were informed that it was typically the disobedient inmates who did not respect the prison rules who were housed down in the basement. I wandered into a few of the cells and it was quite creepy. The cell situated at the far end of the hallway was a larger one that had a small metal table in it and we were informed that this cell was where inmates about to be executed would spend their last night where they could “enjoy” their last meal (which could be requested) along with a more spacious cell before they were hanged the following day.

Also in the basement were two “lunatic” cells, where those with mental illnesses were housed for a night or two, which was believed would “cure” whatever ailed them. Inmates were chained and shackled to metal rods cemented into the floor. But it got worse… the prison guards would place small pieces of bread on the inmates’ heads and body and the rats would come out at night to eat the bread and then nibble on the skin of the individuals! I was so disgusted and shocked to hear about such inhumane and barbaric treatment!

Next, we wandered over to an area of the basement where a few solitary confinement cells were located. They had large metal doors with only a small window at the top of the door and a food slot. The cells were completely empty and dark, with no cot or toilet, light source or windows. There were shackles laying on the cold cement floor of the cells, where inmates were chained to the ground during their time in solitary. Just trying to imagine spending time in a place like that was depressing in itself! I stepped inside of the cells and it definitely felt eerie.

After spending some time exploring the cells in the basement, we headed back up to the main level and our tour was complete.

Here are some more facts that I learned about the Vaughan Street Jail during my tour:

Various participants in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 were jailed there.

The Vaughan Street Jail is the oldest building that is still standing in the city of Winnipeg.

Many local and national historical public figures spent time at this jail including the first juvenile court judge in Canada (Thomas Mayne Daly), the first warden of Manitoba (Samuel Bedson), the first public health nurse in Canada (Margaret Scott), the first serial killer of Manitoba (Earl Nelson), the Winnipeg General Strike Leader and advocate for women’s rights (Helen Armstrong) and others.

A double hanging occurred at this jail on May 27, 1899.

A total of 15 men were executed by method of hanging at this jail between 1899 and 1928!

The Vaughan Street Jail served as a provincial jail until 1930 when the Headingley Jail opened. Following that, it was used as a remand centre and youth detention centre until 1984 when the building was closed.

Only one man, Ken Leishman, managed to escape from the jail in 1966 but was caught the next day.

When the jail was in operation, members of the public could pay money to see the “lunatics” and tour

Tours of this jail are only available to the public once a year during the Doors Open Winnipeg event, on the last weekend of May.

In total, the tour lasted around 45 minutes to an hour.

Touring this historic jail was such a fascinating experience and I enjoyed learning about the stories of the people who spent time there as well discovering a lot of interesting and shocking facts about the jail, the living conditions and the treatment of the inmates there. I had a great time exploring a new place locally in my own hometown!

Further Reading

You can read more about the history of the Vaughan Street Jail from these articles:

http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/53/vaughanstreetjail.shtml

http://www.leifnorman.net/vaughan-street-jail-1881-doors-open-winnipeg-may-30-2015/

http://heritagewinnipeg.blogspot.ca/2014/12/vaughan-street-jail-at-444-york-avenue_31.html

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