A jail and a home under one roof
In downtown Valparaiso, at the corner of Franklin Street and Indiana Avenue, stands one of Porter County’s most unusual old buildings. It is really two buildings joined together: a brick sheriff’s house and a stone jail.
The jail dates to 1871. The house in front is in the Italianate style, common in Indiana homes of that era. The jail behind it looks very different. It is built of stone with towers, and the National Register nomination compares its design to the “keep” of an English castle. Its address is 153 South Franklin Street.
The sheriff’s family next door
The sheriff lived in the attached house and was on duty around the clock. His family helped keep the place running. The National Register nomination notes that the sheriff’s wife often served as cook and jail matron.
In interviews with the local news site valpo.life, daughters of two later sheriffs, one who served in the 1950s and one who was sheriff when the newer county jail was built, remembered growing up in the house. One recalled that her grandfather cooked for the prisoners, and that deputies and judges came and went like part of the family. For them, the jail was simply home.
More than a century of use
The building served as the Porter County jail and sheriff’s home for more than 100 years. In 1974 a new county jail was built, and the old one closed.
It did not sit empty for long. Porter County’s historical collection goes back to 1916, when residents gathered objects from every township for Indiana’s 100th birthday. In September 1974 that collection moved into the old jail and sheriff’s house. The museum opened there on May 11, 1975. A year later, in 1976, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
For 45 years, people learned county history inside the old jail. In March 2020 the museum closed its doors there. In 2022 it reopened in a new home at 20 Indiana Avenue, across the street.
Why it matters locally
Porter County is La Porte County’s neighbor to the west, and its old jail tells a story that was shared across northern Indiana. Before modern county complexes, the sheriff’s office, his home and the jail were often one place. Law enforcement was a family business in a very real sense, with spouses and children living a wall away from the cells.
The building also found a second life. Instead of sitting empty after 1974, it became the home of the county’s historical collection, and for decades it was known simply as the Old Jail Museum. The name on its 1976 National Register listing still includes those words.
The stories people tell
An old jail draws ghost stories, and this one has plenty. Ghost tours have set out from the building, and during the museum years, Halloween-season tours promised stories of strange happenings in the old jail.
Paranormal groups have spent nights inside. The Ghost Research Society, which investigated in 2011, says it picked up short words on its recordings, though its own write-up admits the group was too large and noisy for a proper investigation.
These are reports from people who went looking for something, and they are told here as legend, not fact. No one has shown that anything unexplained happens in the old jail. What is certain is that for a century, real people lived, worked and were held there.
Seeing it today
The old jail still stands on Franklin Street, one of the landmarks of downtown Valparaiso. From the street you can still see the contrast the builders created: the brick house in front, and the stone jail with its tower behind. It is no longer a museum. The county has since leased the former sheriff’s house to a business, so please respect the property and anyone working there, and don’t try to go into the jail.
The best place to learn the county’s story now is the Porter County Museum in its new home across the street. For more stories from our corner of northwest Indiana, see our La Porte County history page and La Porte After Dark.
Questions
When was the old Porter County Jail built?
The jail dates to 1871. It is joined to an Italianate brick sheriff’s house.
When did the old jail close?
It closed in 1974, when a new county jail was built. The county museum opened in the building in 1975.
Is the Porter County Museum still in the old jail?
No. The museum closed there in 2020 and reopened in 2022 at 20 Indiana Avenue, across the street.
Is the old Porter County Jail haunted?
Paranormal groups say they have picked up voices on their recordings. These are legends and personal reports, not proven fact.
Sources: National Park Service: National Register nomination, Historical Society of Porter County Old Jail Museum · Porter County Museum: History · Historical Images of Porter County: Porter County Jail and Sheriff's Residence · Wikipedia: Porter County Museum · valpo.life: Porter County sheriff's residence holds memories for former residents · valpo.life: Ghost tours benefit Porter County Museum · Ghost Research Society: Porter County jail investigation · valpo.life: Porter County Museum haunted tours ("Brews and Boos") · Lakeshore Public Media: Porter County to rent former sheriff's residence to artisan boutique business (2024) · Lakeshore Public Media: Porter County commissioners explain sheriff's residence rental proposal (2023)