Octagonal Buildings in Canada - Octagon Houses in Canada, Huron Historic Gaol, Woodchester Villa, Captain George Anderson House, Bastion (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Octagon Houses in Canada, Huron Historic Gaol, Woodchester Villa, Captain George Anderson House, Bastion, Fraser Octagon House, Pachena Point Light, Octagonal Deadhouse. Excerpt: The Huron Historic Gaol was established as the jail for Upper Canada's Huron District. Clearing of the land began in Goderich, Ontario in 1839 and the jail was constructed between 1839 and 1842 using stone from the Maitland River Valley and from Michigan. The octagonal jail was designed by Thomas Young, modelled after Jeremy Benthams Panopticon design for prison construction, common in mid-19th century Britain and North America. A temporary courtroom and Council Chambers were set up on the jails third floor. It was in this makeshift Council Chamber that the first Huron District Council meeting was held on February 8, 1842. The third floor was also used for church services and other public gatherings before proper buildings were available. The building served the dual purpose of jail and courthouse until the construction of the county courthouse was completed in 1856, in the centre of Goderichs Market Square. The site ceased functioning as a jail serving Huron County in 1972 and inmates were then transferred to Walkerton and Stratford jails. Three inmates were hanged at the jail, with two of the hangings conducted publicly. On December 18 1861 William Mahone was hanged outside the jail walls. An exterior wall of the jail was the location of the last public execution that occurred in Canada, when on December 7, 1869, Nicholas Melady was hanged for the murder of his father and stepmother. Edward Jardine was hanged privately on June 16 1911. Steven Truscott awaited execution in the Huron County Gaol from September 30, 1959, when he was convicted of murder, until his se... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=5980855