The first jail in Old Town San Diego was made of cobblestone and mortar. The famous Roy Bean, aka Law West of the Pecos (Texas) and brother of Joshua Bean, first Mayor of Old Town San Diego, escaped from said jail. For this and other reasons, during 1860 the San Diego County Board of Supervisors ordered that a new jail be built.The new jail was completed in 1861 and placed at the rear of the first court house, Described as an iron cage 6 x 9 feet, it weighed 7000 lbs. It remained at the site until 1906, then used at Tent City, Coronado. In 1938, the jail was then moved to San Ysidro for use by the Border Patrol. The County later used it in east county to store dynamite. Guy Woodward, a retired law enforcement officer recovered it, and by order of the Supervisors, in 1977, it was placed in perpetuity of the the Pioneer Ramona Historical Society where it remains today.
The jail cell No. 3, circa 1850-1860 was obtained April 2000, by FSDC, Inc., from the California Historical facility in Sacramento, where it had been stored for decades. It was then placed at the rear of San Diego’s replica first courthouse, on the same site as the l860 iron cage. Official Dedication Ceremonies were held on September 26, 2001.
