Sonora
Tuolumne County Jail
The Tuolumne County Jail held the badmen from 1857
to 1960. The site upon which the present
jail stands was acquired in 1857, after a grand
jury determined that the previous jail was a
“public nuisance.” Another public nuisance was Tom
Horn, a miner from nearby Columbia, who on
December 20 of 1865, raised a little too much hell
in the local saloons and was locked up for the
night. Sometime during the dark hours, he set a
fire in his cell that resulted in the destruction
of the jail and his cremation. Using material
salvaged from the ruins, the present jail was
built
and completed in 1866. Quarters for the jailer
were added at a later date to the front of the
building and the jail served Tuolumne County until
1960. The jail is now the home of the Tuolumne
County Museum & History Center. Utilizing the
front room and several of the original cells to
house different exhibits, the museum offers an
extremely interesting look into the early days of
the Gold Rush. Among the exhibits are early
photos, books, letters, mining tools, guns, and an
exceptional display of native gold specimens that
is the showpiece of the museum. It is located
at 158 W. Bradford Ave.
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