Hang 'em high

As promised, today I'm sharing with you the JAIL in Phillipsburg, MT. We drove around the tiny town to see all the unique and beautiful buildings. One of the things we are going back for in the spring is a tour of an amazing amount of churches. There has to be TWO churches (varying denominations and religions) on each block. Every one of them completely different look, architecture, and age.

But now, I have to show you the reason we stopped to see this jail.



Up in the medieval tower (yes, that's correct) is a hangman's noose. One of the sheriff's, a long time ago, put it there. The current sheriff came out and told us the story. He was such a great guy. One of my regrets is that I didn't think to snap a photo of him.

We were touring on Sunday with our exchange son, Kenshin, just to enjoy the afternoon. I caught sight of the noose and made my hubby pull over for the photo opp. Then we had a lovely surprise as the sheriff came out to chat. He had also hosted an exchange student from Mexico before. This gave us another fun tangent.

I have to say one of the things I love about Montana is the friendliness of the people. So many willing to tell stories, meet and greet, and enjoy others. Montana feels like a small town across the whole state. All you have to do is smile to get one back.

A little more about the jail...it serves the entire county. It is from 1896 (I hope I got that right, but I'm close.) The architect built it with an eye to a variety of styles. Hence the medieval tower, a portico, red brick from a local kiln, and granite quarried from the same county.

Truthfully, since it's still used today, think about what criminals imagine as they walk up the steps. "Holy cow, they really DO hang people here!"

LOL! I think that might be a deterrent for some bad guys!!!

(All right, I'll let you in on the secret. They've never hung anyone from that particular noose, but it would still freak me out if I were the guy walking up in trouble:-D )

How about you?

Angie