Old Whitley Jail

A historic jail built in 1875 in Columbia City, the county seat of Whitley County. The limestone structure housed prisoners for decades and is now open for paranormal investigations.

The Old Whitley Jail at 116 East Market Street in Columbia City was built in 1875 by architect J.C. Johnson of Toledo at a cost of $34,486, replacing two earlier jails that had proved inadequate. The imposing three-story brick structure was designed in the French Second Empire style, featuring a mansard roof, ornate sandstone trim, and carved window lintels. The building served a dual purpose: the front section housed the sheriff's residence with a kitchen, dining room, and bedrooms across multiple floors, while the fortified stone rear section contained the jail cells. The jail operated for over a century before closing in 1985.

The haunting is rooted in the most violent chapter of the jail's history. In 1883, Charles Butler murdered his wife Abbigail in Pierceton, Indiana. Butler had been arrested twenty-seven times between 1877 and 1883 for violent behavior and had repeatedly threatened to kill her. After Abbigail fled to Pierceton with their four-year-old son Henry to escape his abuse, Butler tracked her to his relatives' home and shot her twice, once in the spine and once in the brain, after she refused to let him see their sleeping child. Butler's month-long trial in May and June 1884 before Judge E. Van Long drew massive crowds to Columbia City, filling every hotel and restaurant. His five attorneys attempted an insanity defense, but the jury deliberated only seven hours before returning a guilty verdict at four in the morning on June 12, 1884.

On October 15, 1884, Sheriff Frank Allwein carried out the only public execution in Whitley County history. Approximately two hundred spectators watched as the trap door was sprung at 12:08 in the afternoon. The execution went horribly wrong. The fall failed to break Butler's neck, and he strangled slowly for approximately eight minutes before Coroner Dr. C.S. Williams pronounced him dead. The botched hanging haunted Sheriff Allwein for the rest of his life, reportedly weighing on his mind until his own death in 1919. Following the Butler execution, Indiana changed its law to restrict all future executions to state prisons.

The paranormal activity reported at the jail centers on what many believe is the restless spirit of Charles Butler. Upon entering the building, visitors describe an intense electrical charge in the air. Cameras malfunction without explanation and fully charged batteries drain rapidly, even when the building's electricity is shut off. Footsteps and scraping sounds echo along the walls when no living person is present. A blurry apparition has been reported that approaches witnesses and touches their hands and shoulders. During one investigation, an entire team in one of the front rooms heard the sound of a man laughing, knocking, and running footsteps while feeling someone brush against them and watching curtains move without any wind. The cellar is described as a particularly intense area, with reports of extreme cold and an unexplained smell of blood.

Paranormal investigators also believe Sheriff Allwein himself remains in the building, perhaps still burdened by the execution he carried out. Ghostly figures have been reported moving between the jail section and the sheriff's quarters, as if the former lawman continues to make his rounds. The Old Whitley Jail was ranked the fifth best haunted house attraction in the nation by USA Today in 2019 and continues to operate as a seasonal haunted attraction under owner Paul Harrington, drawing visitors who come for the theatrical scares but sometimes leave with experiences they did not expect.