HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena, as catalogued
The 1856 county jail operated until 1960 and was the site of Wayne County's only legal execution: the 1860 hanging of William Fee, who maintained his innocence to the end. The original gallows remains on display.
21 Butternut Street, Lyons, NY 14489
Research updated September 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
General admission $5 per person, $3 for students. Guided tours $15. October ghost walks priced separately. Check waynehistory.org.
Access
Limited Access
Historic 1856 jail and sheriff's residence; cell blocks involve stairs
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1856 · Site of Wayne County's only legal execution (William Fee, March 23, 1860) · Original 19th-century wooden gallows preserved on display · Operated as county jail 1856–1960 · Listed on New York State Haunted History Trail
The Wayne County Jail and Sheriff's Residence was constructed in 1856 at 21 Butternut Street in Lyons, the county seat of Wayne County. The building housed 24 cells for inmates alongside a residential wing for the sheriff and his family. The arrangement was intentional: reformers of the period believed that the presence of a law-abiding household within the same structure would provide a positive model for prisoners.
On September 26, 1859, a woman's body was discovered in the town of Galen, west of Lyons. Witnesses placed William Fee and a companion named Thomas Muldoon with the woman the preceding evening. Fee was convicted of her murder and sentenced to death on February 3, 1860. The execution was scheduled as a public event: approximately 100 people purchased tickets to witness the hanging inside the jail yard, with an additional 2,000 gathering outside the building on March 23, 1860.
Fee maintained his innocence until the end. The hanging was Wayne County's first and only legal execution. The wooden gallows used in the execution remains in the museum's collection and is on display.
The jail closed in 1960 after serving as the county lockup for 104 years. The building subsequently became the Museum of Wayne County History, operated by the Wayne County Historical Society, which preserves the jail's original cell block, the sheriff's residence, and the execution apparatus.
Sources
The Museum of Wayne County History's paranormal claims are anchored by the documented 1860 execution of William Fee, the only person legally hanged in Wayne County. Fee declared his innocence at the gallows; that declaration is the structural support for the accounts that place his figure in the cell block where he awaited execution.
Museum staff and visitors report a male apparition in the original cell area, described in local coverage as Fee's continued protest of his conviction. The detail that Fee refused to accept the verdict until the last moment is a consistent element in how staff describe the haunting tradition.
A separate category of reports involves children's voices and the sound of children running in the upstairs hallway of the sheriff's residential wing. These are attributed to the children of the various sheriffs who lived in the building from 1856 to 1960—families who occupied the residence while their parent administered the jail.
The museum offers October ghost walks through the Old Lyons History and Haunts program, as well as private paranormal investigations by appointment for small groups.
Notable Entities
Guided tours of the 1856 jail include the 24 original cells, the sheriff's residence, and the wooden gallows from the 1860 William Fee hanging—one of the few surviving 19th-century execution gallows in New York. Guides address both the architectural history and the paranormal tradition.
Private paranormal investigations available by appointment, maximum 6 participants. Contact the museum through waynehistory.org to schedule.
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