Reviews of Squirrel Cage Jail (Tourist Attraction)

Bill greer

I enjoyed seeing this piece of history. Glad it's not functioning any longer yet glad it's here as a reminder

indomidableimperator

Wow. I never knew a place like this existed. Facinating idea, but i understand why they shut them down. I recomend a visit, pictures are nice but they dont substitute for the experience. Lots of antiques and artifacts and stories. Not only a great piece of history but also a place of paranormal investigations.

Gary Butler

This place is a great look into the recent past criminal behavior and the way society delt with it. Well worth a visit. Plus the unique building and jail cells are quite ingenious.

WANDERLUST SOUL

Interesting place. Great historical location. Went on a day trip with my 7 year old.

Michael Bush

Phenomenal history. Well worth going out of your way to visit. The rotary jail system is fascinating and extremely unique. This is a gem.

Amy Rider

Got lots of EVPs and activity here!

Aidan Brady

Very interesting small facility discussing a fascinating, if bizarre and outdated, approach to incarceration. Please note the topic makes it not super "family friendly" but still worth a visit. The building's construction means it's not truly climate controlled, as a warning on a particularly warm or cool day.

Samuel Chambers

Hauntingly interesting. A real piece of history. One of only a few circular jails were constructed. The entire facility can be toured. Located downtown. A must see attraction.

Stephen Brown

This historic jail is one of the last 3 remaining revolving jails in the country. A revolving jail is essentially a giant cage that rotates on a huge gear structure, but with restricted entrances/exits. The admission cost for me was $7 a person on a Sunday. I recommend this to families, or anyone who loves to look at unique places in history.

Lauren

It was cool to see the jail but the tour took about 20 minutes and was $7 so it was a bit steep.

Ashley Christenson

Great museum and piece of history to see

Becky McCarthy

The flashlight tour was awesome , I want to see it in the daylight now. Great job from our tour guide Jason.

Marla Bartlett

Very interesting place.

J Burns

Lot of history. Helpful folks working there. Kids thought it was kinda spooky.

Mark Kier

Interesting History and In use until 1969!

Tommi Lingle

You might hear a old convict ghost here...

Raime Ann Vandermyde

A point of interest I'd been meaning to check out for a while. Definitely glad I did! Such a neat piece of history so wonderfully preserved. The woman working was so helpful and knowledgeable, it really made the visit extra enjoyable. They have neat souvenirs and wonderful photo ops so take advantage!

Joy Brooks

Rare jail! Must see if in area!

Rock Hunter

Definitely spooky old-timey jail. Interesting exhibits and stories. Glad they decided to save it. Enough to put the fear in kids (and adults) that they would never want to end up in jail. The Preservation Society could use some support, financially and with volunteers I'm sure, but they do a great job with what they have.

stephaniebehl

Super interesting history. Try a flashlight tour for an even creepier experience. Tour guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about jail history.

.

Wonderful facility to tour and learn about the correctional facility from years past. Other groups got a tour guide but ours didn’t. Recommend visiting.

Matt Heuton

A very interesting place to visit if you are in the area! I didn't really know much about rotary jails until, I came to this neat place! Also found this is one of only three left in the US!

Rodney Hay

Took part in a "flashlight" tour. The tour was very interesting and our tour guide was knowledgeable. I would recommend this doing tour.

Marissa Latta

It was a great experience to learn the history behind it and how the jail worked. Seeing how the "squirrel cage" once rotated was pretty cool to see. The entrance fee was $7.00 an adult, not bad. The workers were very kind and told amusing stories about the jail.

Sonya Green

Very interesting!!

Steel Owl Music

Cool place to visit if youre into prisons

A̶l̶e̶x̶ U̶w̶u̶

It was so cool, it was clean and the staff was extremely friendly

Brad Krause

Very fun , entertaining and I learned some cool stuff

Great Hands

This place is good deterrent to crime.

Roberto Jensen

Squirrel Cage Jail is a very interesting jail prison and I didn't know that a place like this existed! Our tour guide is very knowledgeable and friendly, and the service they provide is excellent. I am impressed that the design of the prison was intentional so that one person can operate the jail. I really pity the prisoners before who were forced to stand up the whole time when in solitary. Actually, the place is creepy but good to see and study this part of history.

Nali Yan

It was an amazing place and an inhuman facilities. And the warden and his family should have had a hard time. However, it was quite instructive to learn one of the aspects of American history. I recommend to see here once.

Carol Kier

So interesting to see. They made this type of jail for security and you only needed 1 jailer on property. So cool!

Lynda Ventura

Awsome place full of history. Very interesting. And the counters were very knowledgeable and friendky

Angela Zinsious

Never seen anything like it! The history and engineering is awesome. Thoroughly enjoyed visit!

David Eisenbrown

Cool place to visit with the family

cody bancroft

Very neat building with a unique design for holding inmates in a rotating jail inside the building. Definitely worth the look

Linda Hepworth

This was such a cool place. Our family of 10 visited. The museum staff were super friendly and helpful. I would highly recommend this as a stop on vacation or day outing. I loved that they handed out an information book to read while walking around. The tour guides were never far away and seemed to love what they were doing. Several other people were visiting at the same time. Everyone seemed to have a great experience. They also were helpful in suggesting other places to visit.

Beverly Gibson

The jail is self guided walk thru museum. Lots of interesting pictures & articles displayed throughout. You really need to check out the solitary confinement located off the front office! There is a small entrance fee. I would recommend stopping to visit. A very unique piece of history!

ASHTEN LUCAS

rash

Ashley Cline

We went for the night flashlight tour. It was really cool, the staff were very knowledgeable and laid back

Laura Betz

Super cool history. I'm excited to rent it out for an event

Daniel 436b

Very interesting little museum. Very affordable to get in and check it out if you have about 20 minutes to kill.

Mark May

Interesting history, but just a little creepy.

Cherri Beaulieu

Fun and educational experience!

lylliaah

Wow such history! The staff were incredibly helpful with finding other sites for us to visit on our "haunted vacay"... the tour is definitely worth the $7 ($6 with my AAA discount, who knew?!) This is an absolute historic gem. Don't miss it.

Al Johnson

Very interesting.

Betsy Ailport

Great ghost hunt

no name

False advertising: there ain't no squirrels.

Katie Woodring

This place is awesome! I plan to go back!!!!!

Steven Markham

Very interesting place. Such a unique design for a jail!!

Sara Horowitz

Cool place. Takes like 30 min interesting

Gail Tripp

Amazing place!! Loved it!!

MATTHEW WALKER

Fun time! Smaller jail and the 3rd floor was closed. Would get 4 for its size with the extra floor.

Corinna Bauer

Super neat place

larry rockwell

Take the kids and grandkids! Fantastic piece of history!

Tyshow

Best place for ghost hunting and sight seeing alike. Great staff great place! It's like my second home. I have investigated here multiple times and it never fails to get good evps.

James Schilling

What a joke, only open three days a week, and only for 5 hrs a day on the three days its open, get out of a visit iowa guide if your not gonna be open

Amanda Houghton

This right here is a must see. This is a place you will never forget. You will find yourself talking about it to family and friends

Josh Bundy

The jail itself was awesome. The memorial for the fallen deputy was amazing. The lady working there was very helpful with the history behind everything. I see why people think its haunted. Would love to do a night stay with a paranormal crew!! Will definitely go back.

Rena M

Awesome place to visit!! History about the jail was very interesting. A must see when visiting Council Bluffs or Iowa!! The older gentleman that showed us around was A+!!!

Tammy Huffey

Walk back in time. It was interesting

Desireé Cook

My husband and son had to stop and check it out. Loved the history

Nathan Dunning

Neat to see.

Jordan Lippstreu

A good history lesson!

Danielle S.

Well it was ok but not worth the entrance fee. The items that it displayed were okay, but the tour I went on was very crowded and made it hard to maneuver and move about to really enjoy the space.

C. Clark Cumbo

Historical jail and museum.

Gerald Kinart

Nice Museum my great grandmother used to be a maid for general dodge

Talon Swanson

Well worth the visit if you enjoy history and/or engineering oddities.

Christina Luing

Amazing history inside this jail. Even my young children enjoyed exploring.

Benjamin Christensen

You have to see it at least one in your life it's very interesting.

Jennifer Carolus

Cool place!

Shannyn McEntee

All decorated for Halloween too!

Amanda Redlinger

Lots of great history!

Rachael H

I am so happy that I stopped by this place on my road trip. It was everything that I had hoped it would be. I love self guided tours! Also kudos to the lovely ladies that were running the museum. They were so helpful and informative.

Thelibraryme

Facinating...everyone should visit. Great tour!

Levi Preiner

We love this place. It's really unique and interesting! We've been back 3 times, usually with friends/family visiting from out of town and everyone is always glad we checked it out. They typically don't offer guided tours but the staff is available to answer questions and you're given a guide packet with information for self guided tours. Expect to spend anywhere from 30min-1hour+ looking at everything.

Ashley Hairston

The investigation tonight was awesome! Will deff be doin it again!

Laura Pike

Went to see the tribute for Officer Mark Burbridge. R.I.P YOU ARE HONORED FOR YOUR SERVICE

Karen Raney

Fascinating! Hadn't heard of Squirrel Cage jails before finding this one and enjoyed ourselves immensely. If you love historical places, you'll love this place! Gonna check out the other two!

Bob Rion

Great Historical Location as one of only three remaining squirrel cage jails in the United States. The only three story one left in existence. If you like local wines the work with a local winery to produce a sweet red and rose that is only available to purchase at the jail.

Dustin Dales

A great look at one of history's most interesting concepts.

Sharon Best

My Grandson and I loved it. Such wonderful history.

Connie Ritter

Very informative and yet very laid back!

Tammy Croson

My son is 16 and special needs he got to go to the SCG as a field trip for home school and they were so pleasant and helpful thank you!

David Giddings

Do the day tour also

Austin Bailey

Great piece of history Interesting and creepy at the same time.

Trudy Zellmer

Had a great haunted experience. Staff there was great too!

Chris L

Had such a fun time visiting this awesome piece of criminal justice history in Council Bluffs. I had never heard of these types of prisons before! Well worth a trip to spend an hour or so here...but most definitely not a place to be locked up in though!

Amy's Channel

I wish they were open later. Lol to see ghosts. I didn't see any in broad day light. Duh. Lol but it is neat to see and to say I've been there, to a haunted jail. Great place! Very neat!

James Bowman

Great tour great service great cause. Serves as a stark reminder that: We, as a society, will only be as good, as we treat our lowest citizens; Our prisoners.

Ricky Smith

It's cool

Deb Powers

Interesting self guided tour.

Bradley Kraft

Cool as Hell everybody needs to see this place even got a demon in one of my pics

Shane Goertzen

Interesting place to see

Bob Parsons

Fun place to go for a short visit. Wish they had a better system of providing information about the jail. They give you a pieces or paper in plastic sleeves to read, which they didn't have enough of so we had to share with our group. For the price they could have pamphlets printed. Getting inside solitaire confinement was a different experience.

Andrea Connell

Step back into time. Interesting place

Andrea Jewett

Only thing is the third floor is closed because of storage. That's disappointing, find another place and open up the floor! People would love to say they've been on the insane asylum where the violent criminals were kept. They say it's the same as others floor, but it's just as cool for the above reason

Ashley English

Highly recommend their flashlight tours!

Teresa Parsons

This might be biased, as I love any history. Well worth the visit!!

Coralee Bernard

No air conditioning in part of jail.

sonja herngren

Love visiting, I always hear or see something new, the people who work here are friendly and make everyone feel welcome

Ken Quignon

Awesome place, very interesting, helpful staff, 5 bucks to get in....

Cindy

Great!

Jesse Isaac

Interesting

Holly Kulczewski

This was such an interesting and inexpensive place to visit. Even our young kids really enjoyed themselves! If you’ve never been, it’s definitely worth checking out!

Jason Bleeker

Great place to see. Very nostalgic.

Kris Gray

Cool place. It was fun

Tim Stultz

Used to take prisoners their dinner after school once in a while. Just a small boy then.

lindsey ahrends

Took the kids to see while we were in town. So glad we made time for this. Besides being an interesting place it was also just the right amount of creepy. Had volunteers to answer all of our questions (and more)! Took a ton of pictures and had a wonderful afternoon!

Gloria Gardner

Awesome experience touring this historic site!

Dawn Margetta

Cool place to visit. It could go really quickly if you don't stop to read. There is a lot of info about past inmates and great stories if you love history.

C Kenton

Neat historical location. Better in small groups and would probably see more during the day time.

Lindsey Wells

It's haunted.

Katrina Hurd

2nd time in 2 nights going! Still plan on coming here maybe during the day or maybe an overnight thing.

Sarah Hyatt

We visited the jail for a paranormal investigation on a Friday night. I was very impressed with how well kept the building is, how clean it was, and how great Kat did of giving us a tour and sharing info. I would definitely recommend this jail to anybody- whether you're looking for ghosts or just interested in a unique piece of history. We need to continue to support this organization so we don't lose this relic.

Sonia Valentine

Piece of history also known to be haunted