The former jail in Ellsworth, which has sat mostly unused for 45 years, is getting some badly needed repairs after years of neglect.
The brick facade of the old jail, which was built in 1886, has been literally falling apart for decades: Signs have been posted nearby warning that plummeting masonry could hit parked cars, while a net was erected along the south facade several years ago to keep stray bricks out of the driveway.
But last month, Congress approved a bill with a $500,000 earmark for repairing the jail’s exterior. These funds, along with $325,000 already raised by the Ellsworth Historical Society, “gets us to that goal” of being able to repair the entire exterior of the building, according to Jen Sala, the society’s president.
Sala said the next phase of the rehabilitation will include removing lead paint from the old jail cells.
“Once we can ensure the interior space is safe and the Old Jail is fully rehabilitated, it will again be available to visitors and will add to the robust infrastructure for tourism, business, and cultural heritage which Ellsworth has to offer local residents and tourists to the Downeast Maine National Heritage Area,” Sala said.
That Heritage Area, which includes all of Hancock and Washington counties, was created by federal legislation in 2023. The designation helped make the jail project eligible for federal funding, according to Carla Haskell, a local architect who serves on the historical society’s board.
“We know the time is now,” Haskell said, adding that the society intends to repurpose the former jail as a museum and heritage center with exhibits not just about the history of the building, but also the larger Down East region.
“It was a county building, so we want to present a broader aspect” about the region’s history, she said.
Haskell said the society is looking to raise more money for repairs to the old jail, which is one of only a few remaining lockups built as both a residence for the county sheriff and a place of incarceration. Portland-based masonry contractor Hascall & Hall has begun repairing the facade, but has not yet opened up the rotten south wall — where the damage may be more extensive than they think, Haskell said.
As for the planned interior repairs, the society intends to replace the building’s old heating and ventilation system and upgrade the wiring to accommodate “state of the art” displays, Haskell said. The projected cost of the interior work, which includes abating the lead paint, is between $500,000 and $800,000, she said.
The former jail has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2008, according to the Ellsworth Historical Society website. The society has owned the building since 1998 but has managed the property since the county built what was then a new jail onto the back of the courthouse.
Part of the jail’s colorful history includes the daring 1965 escape of Myles Connor, a notorious and still-living criminal and art thief who has been linked to the infamous 1990 art heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Connor — who grew up in Milton, Massachusetts, where his father was a police officer — was visiting relatives in Sullivan when he was arrested for stealing antiques from a neighboring house.
Connor was taken to the Ellsworth jail, but he escaped with the help of a bar of soap he had carved into the shape of a gun and blackened with shoe polish. After using the gun to surprise a jail guard who opened his cell door, he knocked the guard down and ran out, evading capture for a few days while he hid in and around Ellsworth until police caught him again.