The Old Log Jail That Outlived Two Colvilles Sells for $25
The county's first jail—built in old Colville, moved to the new townsite, and finally replaced—is auctioned off and will be hauled to a farm.
Colville, Wash., Jan. 21.—All of the old stoves and equipment of the courthouse and old jail, which were thrown out of use by the construction of the new jail and the installation of the new steam heating plant, were sold at public auction in front of the courthouse yesterday afternoon by Sheriff Graham. The sum realized for all the things sold was about $75. The old jail building, which is a log structure and which was built when the town was at the site of the old town of Colville, three miles north of this city, nearly 50 years ago, and removed to its present site when the new town of Colville was established, 26 years ago, was sold to Stephen Bonnett, a farmer living near town, for $25 and will be removed to his ranch. The two iron cells which have been in use for a number of years in the old jail were sold to the city for $8. The stoves were sold to farmers for prices ranging from $1 to $3. The old jail site will be cleaned off and converted into a lawn.
“The old jail building, which is a log structure and which was built when the town was at the site of the old town of Colville, three miles north of this city, nearly 50 years ago, and removed to its present site when the new town of Colville was established, 26 years ago, was sold to Stephen Bonnett, a farmer living near town, for $25 and will be removed to his ranch.”
Colville's first jail was moved once and then sold for scrap value—a reminder that civic landmarks often disappear quietly. Preservationists today still fight to save the buildings that anchor a county's memory.
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