#old jail
#franklin county
#chamberburg pa
#william reed


The Old Jail was built in 1818 and survived the burning of Chambersburg by the Confederate Forces in 1864. This building of Georgian design is one of the oldest in Chambersburg and was placed on the State and National Register of Historical Sites in 1970.

During more than 150 years of use as a prison, The Old Jail housed numerous local criminals, including “Lewis the Robber” and Captain John Cook, one of John Brown’s men who was captured after the unsuccessful raid on the Federal

Arsenal at Harpers Ferry. The cellar contains five domed dungeons with rings in the walls and floors that were used to shackle recalcitrant prisoners. Tradition suggests these cells were also used as a way-station on the “Underground” railway to shelter runaway slaves enroute to freedom in the north.

The Old Jail saw its first two prisoners executed by hanging in the courtyard in 1879. The one prisoner had killed his wife and the other had killed a man at a local dance. The last person to be hung at the Old Jail was William Reed on April 30, 1912, for the shooting of his lover, Sarah Mathna. The old gallows can still be seen in the courtyard of the Old Jail

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