Site information:

0.1 mi S of intersection of State Hwys 29 and 53, 16118 Main St, Lower Lake

38.910403,-122.61131

Plaque information:

State plaque

Plaque text:

Lower Lake Stone Jail

Built in 1876 at the height of the quicksilver mining boom, the Lower Lake stone jail was a response to rapid town growth and the urgent need for civil order. Stephen Nicolai, one of the first stone masons in Lower Lake, built the jail from local materials along with the help of Theodore and John Copsey. The jail is one of the smallest in the United States.

Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the ancient and honorable order of E Clampus Vitus, Yerba Buena Chapter No. 1, October 2, 1982.

OHP description:

This jail, claimed to be the smallest in the United States, was erected in 1876 of stone locally quarried and reinforced with iron. During the stirring days of the first quicksilver operations of the Sulphur Bank Mine, lasting from 1873 to 1883, obvious need for a jail led to its construction.

Registered 3/16/1949