The
Jail Yard Wall
The
Jail Yard Wall was built of native stone in 1885 by Edward Fahey. It
is 10 feet high, 302 feet long and surrounds the Jail Yard. It took
Fahey four months to build the impressive wall. The Jail Yard contained
a dog kennel housing the blood hounds used to hunt criminals. Several
graves of men that were hung are supposedly in the Jail Yard but no
one knows where they are located.
After
1888, all hangings took place at San Quentin State Prison.
At
one time, the Jail Yard contained a dungeon with two cells, a modern
day “drunk tank”. In 1927 it was filled in and today, the
ground has sunken in that area.
