A few years ago we received the email below at PagosaSprings.com.

Norm,

We have acquired the old jail that was once used in Pagosa Springs.  We own and operate a museum called Louisiana Treasures Museum and purchased the jail as part of our Law Enforcement Memorial.  We were wondering if you had any photographs of the jail when it was used in the town.
Thanks so much, we look forward to hearing from you.

Wayne Norwood
Louisiana Treasures Museum
225-294-9810

I pondered what to do and asked a handful of local people I thought might have an inkling about an old Pagosa Springs jail.

Shari Pierce wrote back saying, “I would doubt this dating from 1800s. Our courthouse was built in the late 1920s and this appears to be similar to those that were in the jail when it was remodeled about 25 years ago.

Our local museum acquired one of the cells at the time the courthouse was remodeled and it looks very much like these. I am not sure of the date these were put in, but I would feel comfortable in saying 1927 or later. I would think that over the years it was remodeled more than just in the 1980s.”

Don Volger, previously sheriff and now Mayor wrote, “I don’t know if this is one of the units taken out of the courthouse during the “new” jail construction but it sure looks like what I remember being in the basement when I first started with the police department in 1977. I was told the cells were initially taken from a slave ship but I never researched the history. It was primitive, but it served its purpose for many years.”

Don Volger
There is no absolute proof, but it sure seems as if this was the temporary home of some Pagosa Springs’ citizens and likely extra busy on the 4th of July! I shared the information with the museum and  they are now able to represent a bit of our history to visitors.
Norm