Here in the Baldpate Inn Key Room & Museum we have several keys from jails all around the country. We have the key to the old Baraga County Jail in Michigan, which was dismantled in 1911 and has since been rebuilt. An even older key unlocks the front door of the Weld County Jail in Colorado, built in 1896.
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| Blair, Nebraska Jail Key |
One of our jail keys tells a somewhat grim, yet fascinating story. A mob of angry people stole the jail key from the Marshal in Blair, Nebraska, a small town near Omaha. They rushed the jailhouse, pulled out a prisoner who had murdered a family, and executed him in an act of vigilante justice.
Another key unlocked the kitchen to a prisoner of war base in Germany during WWII. A longtime Estes Park resident acquired the key specifically to donate it to the Key Room.
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| Arthur Gooch's Handcuff Key |
Lastly, we have Arthur Gooch's handcuff key, an escaped prisoner who kidnapped two policemen and transported them across state lines. Interestingly, Gooch is the only person in United States history to be executed under the 1932 Lindbergh Law, created after the infamous Lindbergh baby case, for a kidnapping in which the victims were unharmed. The key was donated to us in July 1936, only a month after Gooch was put to death.
To learn more about history, outlaws, and all things keys, come on by The Baldpate Inn Key Room & Museum. Until next time!
Written by Danielle New
Museum Curator
