The Living Quarters of the Clark Co., WI Jail Museum

Neillsville's first jail was built in 1866 and its second in 1881. In 1897 a third and more substantial jail was built and housed beautiful living quarter for the sheriff and his family. The total construction cost was $15,000 and over 209 cords of brick were used. The LaCrosse architecture firm of Stozle & Schick were the designers. The castle-like structure, with its turrets, juts up three stories and is one of the most unique in the state with its fortress-like architecture. This formidable Clark County jail was place on the National and State Historic Register in 1978 and is operated by the Clark County Historical Society.

Upon arriving as a guest--and not as a prisoner--you will enter a lovely two-story Victorian home. The sheriff's living quarters consists of 11 rooms. The first floor includes a parlor complete with a fireplace, sheriff's office, a beautiful Victorian staircase, and a large kitchen area (the sheriff's wife also prepared meals for the prisoners). The upper floor includes a child's room, the Listeman bedroom with a carved bed, an old photo room, and a jewelry store. All rooms are furnished with period pieces.

In the early 1900's Sheriff Robert Eunson occupied the residence with his second wife, Jessie, and his two children, Dale and Genevieve. When Robert Eunson's term as sheriff expired, he packed up his family and moved to Montana to claim a homestead. His son, Dale, went on to become a well-known writer and dramatist. His non-fiction story entitled, "The Day They Gave Babies Away" was written in 1946 and has become a modern classic. It is the only story ever to have been published three times in one magazine, Cosmopolitan, and it has been dramatized on radio and television. In many of his other writings, Dale refers to his childhood memories of Neillsville, and when his father was sheriff of Clark County.

 

 


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