Saving the stories behind bars: Old Billings jail gets one last look
Apr 04, 2025
The old city jail is coming apart, bit by bit.It was penned The Billings Police Historical Center,'" said Joel Watson, a retired detective and evidence technician. "Its kind of just been that, but everyone just calls it The Muse
um.Watch the full video of this story below: Saving the stories behind bars: old Billings jail gets one last lookWith much of the building scheduled to be dismantled, Watson and a small crew are carefully removing what they can and transferring it to the Western Heritage Center photos, artifacts, memories.A few of us were thinking about some old photos that the police department had," said Watson. "So, we started preserving the photos, and hanging em around, and then it just snowballed into more stuff.That more stuff includes murals painted directly onto the jails interior walls.On both walls, theres a drawing or a painting that was done by Vine Broken Rope of an inebriated elephant," said Watson.Entire sets of barseffectively, the structures boneswill be extracted intact. For Watson, these are not just pieces of metal and paint. These walls, he said, still have something to say.(I am) trying to think, toowho was the last person to walk out of here?" said Watson. "How quiet was it? What did the officers think?Watson is not just trying to preserve artifacts. For him, this is a kind of justice.I mean, yeah, we have pictures and video and other things, but that doesnt always do it justice than having something that someone can touch and feel for themselves," said Watson. "Once its gone, its gone. ...read more read less