Est. 1910 · Arizona Territory Jail (Pre-Statehood) · Yuma Territorial Prison Hardware · 1911 Unsolved Kingsley Olds Shooting · Globe Copper Country History
The Gila County Jail was built in 1910 — two years before Arizona became a state — adjacent to the Gila County Courthouse in Globe, connected to it by an elevated passage informally called the Bridge of Sighs. Globe was a copper-mining center with a reputation for violence, and the county needed a facility capable of holding serious offenders through long pre-trial periods.
The construction incorporated hardware from the recently closed Yuma Territorial Prison, including the heavy iron cell doors and the single-lever Pauly Company mechanism that controlled all cell locks from one point in the block. That mechanism, built for one of the most notorious prisons in the American Southwest, was transported to Globe by mule train following Yuma's closure in 1909. The first floor served as the administrative hub; the second floor held 28 cells designated by gender and age; the third floor handled overflow and segregated prisoners.
The jail's most significant incident occurred in March 1911, when Kingsley Olds — who had been accused of murdering two young daughters of his employer — was shot through his cell bars by unknown parties firing from the direction of the Gila County Courthouse building. He survived the initial shot but died of his wounds. The shooting was never solved. Olds had reportedly told a jailer that he was visited by apparitions of the two girls, motioning for him to follow them, in the weeks before his death.
An additional death by gunfire during a jailbreak attempt in the 1930s is documented in the county record. The jail served until fall 1981. The county opened new facilities across town. The building is now a museum and visitor center, with the Cobre Valley Center for the Arts operating in the adjacent courthouse.
Sources
- https://discovergilacounty.com/blog-categories-gila-county-history/the-gila-county-jail-in-globe-arizona-haunted/
- https://www.oldprisons.com/in-globe-arizona-a-1910-jail-built-for-a-tough-town-is-open-for-tours/
- https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-1910-gila-county-sheriffs-office-and-jail
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gila_County_Courthouse
Phantom gunshotsDisembodied voices in cell blocksShadow figuresBattery drain and equipment malfunctionTemperature dropsApparitions on second floor
The paranormal reputation of the 1910 Gila County Jail centers on the Kingsley Olds incident, and the reported activity is most concentrated on the second floor cell block where he was held. Olds himself, according to his jailer's account published in contemporary Globe newspaper coverage, claimed to be visited by apparitions of the two girls whose deaths he had been accused of causing — a detail that preceded his own death by gunshot through the cell bars.
Paranormal investigators operating in the jail, including teams documented by Ghost Theory and Amy's Crypt, report disembodied voices in the cell corridors, shadow figures seen moving between cells, and sudden equipment malfunction or battery drain during EVP sessions on the second floor. Phantom sounds described as gunshots have been reported in the cell block, with no corresponding physical explanation identified.
AZ Ghost Tours, which operates the current ghost hunt program, uses the full three floors and documents reports from each session. The third floor generates claims of oppressive atmospheric changes and unexplained temperature drops. The administrative first floor has produced reports of a figure in period attire near the sheriff's desk area.
The Bridge of Sighs connecting the jail to the courthouse has its own reported phenomena: witnesses describe the sensation of being watched or followed on the enclosed walkway, and a recorded history of prisoners' final walks before sentencing gives the passage a documented emotional weight.
Notable Entities
Kingsley Olds (accused, shot 1911, death unsolved)
Where this legend is told
