The house and jail on Main Street
In 1882, Lake County built its first permanent sheriff’s residence, with a jail attached, at 226 South Main Street in Crown Point. The sheriff and his family lived in the house. The prisoners were held in the jail joined to it.
The building served the county for nearly a century. In 1974 the sheriff’s offices moved to a new county complex, and the old jail went quiet. A nonprofit, the Old Sheriff’s House Foundation, later took on its care, and in 1989 the property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For most of its life it was simply a county building, where sheriffs worked, lived and raised families. One morning in 1934 made it famous.
Why Dillinger was in Crown Point
John Dillinger was arrested in Tucson, Arizona, in January 1934. He was sent back to Indiana and held in the Lake County jail. He was accused of killing William O’Malley, an East Chicago police officer, during a bank robbery earlier that winter.
The jail was run by Sheriff Lillian Holley, and it was thought to be escape-proof. Holley told reporters she expected no trouble from her new prisoner. It would not stay that way for long.
March 3, 1934
On the morning of March 3, 1934, Dillinger pulled what looked like a pistol on the men guarding him. What that “gun” really was is still argued about. The best-known story says he carved it from a piece of wood, some early accounts said part of a washboard, and blackened it with shoe polish. Other accounts say a real gun was smuggled in, or that bribes helped. Even the Old Sheriff’s House Foundation says the story varies.
Guards and inmates were locked into the cells. Accounts disagree on how many. The foundation counts 14 jailers, while a TIME magazine report that same month said more than 30 people in all. Dillinger left with another prisoner, Herbert Youngblood, who was being held on a murder charge. They took a deputy and a garage mechanic as hostages, and the sheriff’s own car.
The car headed west into Illinois. The two hostages were let go near Peotone, Illinois. The sheriff’s car turned up later in Chicago.
The federal turn
That stolen car changed the case. Under the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act, taking a stolen vehicle across a state line was a federal crime. Once Dillinger drove the sheriff’s car into Illinois, the federal Bureau of Investigation, later the FBI, could join the hunt.
Director J. Edgar Hoover made catching Dillinger the bureau’s top priority. The search ended on July 22, 1934, when federal agents shot and killed Dillinger outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago.
It’s easy to tell this story as a clever trick. The people around it saw it differently. Officer O’Malley was dead. Guards and hostages were put in danger, and a sheriff who had trusted her jail was left to answer for it. The escape is remembered because it embarrassed the officials who said it couldn’t happen, not because anything about it was admirable.
Legends in the cells
Like many old jails, this one has ghost stories. The Crown Point Community Library’s local history pages say people report voices in the cells and walkways, and figures that could be an inmate or a guard.
These are stories people tell, not facts. Nobody has shown that anything unexplained happens in the old jail. Whether visitors are hearing the past, the wind, or an old building settling is up to each of us.
Visiting the old jail
Today the Sheriff’s House and Jail is a historic site cared for by the Old Sheriff’s House Foundation, which offers guided tours. Tour days change, so check the foundation’s official site before you go, and stay with your guide.
Crown Point is in Lake County, just beyond Porter County to our west. For more history close to home, see our La Porte County history page and the stories in La Porte After Dark.
Questions
When did Dillinger escape from the Crown Point jail?
On the morning of March 3, 1934.
Did Dillinger really use a wooden gun?
That is the best-known story, but accounts disagree. Some say a real gun was smuggled in or that bribes helped. No one knows for sure.
Why did the FBI get involved?
Dillinger drove a stolen car, the sheriff’s own, from Indiana into Illinois. Under the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act that was a federal crime, so federal agents could join the hunt.
Can you visit the old Crown Point jail?
Yes. It is a historic site run by the Old Sheriff’s House Foundation, which offers guided tours. Check its official site for current tour days.
Sources: Old Sheriff's House Foundation: Timeline · Old Sheriff's House Foundation: Infamous inmates · TIME: National Affairs: Whittler's Holiday (March 12, 1934) · The Mob Museum: Dillinger's Crown Point jail escape · Lowell Public Library: John Dillinger (Lowell Tribune, March 8, 1934) · National Archives, Prologue: A Public Enemy's Life in the Fast Lane · Encyclopaedia Britannica: John Dillinger · Visit Indiana: Visit the jailhouse made famous by John Dillinger · Crown Point Community Library: Haunted Crown Point · FBI: Indianapolis field office history