People entering the red-turreted building with barred windows pass by members of a chain gang dressed in striped shirts and trousers who are swinging long-handled sledgehammers. Once inside, the visitors go through a processing procedure to register them as new inmates at St. John’s Old County Jail in St. Augustine, Florida.
But rather than being incarcerated, these folks are checking out an historic prison that today serves as a museum. It’s one of dozens of former penitentiaries throughout the country that have been rehabilitated and repurposed to fill roles very different from their original function.
