Adventures in Location Scouting

Today Alexander and I took a drive to scenic Tolland CT to visit the Tolland County Jail and Museum.  It was a beautiful day! Tolland's historic county jail is absolutely amazing! thick stone walls, iron bars, sad echoing corridor, the works! Thanks to the CT film commission we were introduced to the space. And thanks to the wonderful full-time volunteer, Kathy Bach, we were able to check out not only the cells, but the rest of the museum.

They had some great exhibits of tools used way back when, and dresses that were in pristine condition. They also had an entire room just of (last) turn of the century school supplies and toys. The dolls were a tad creepy, but their dresses were so wonderfully made you sort of forget about the creep factor. There were also a bunch of old school books that were in incredible shape! I can't wait until they're open for the summer so I can go back to get an in-depth tour of the museum.

Love the glasses! Yes, mostly because I want them for my steam punk costume...

The curly object is something that a Tolland blacksmith was actually pretty famous for; iron bouquets.

Across the street from the jail is the courthouse. The Courthouse is now half library and half historic courtroom. And, I have to add, it has a functioning bell tower! The Tolland historical society has done a truly remarkable job keeping the building in working order. And apart from the florescent lighting, the courtroom looks like a perfect little chunk of judicial history.

Detail of the ceiling

The jury

The Judge

The lawyers

Strange as it may seem, I really enjoyed my trip to jail and court today :)

Outside of the jail