2015 was a very good year at the old Cedar County Jail/ Museum in
Tipton, Iowa. The old Cedar County Jail/Museum is the official Museum
for the Iowa State Sheriff’s and Deputies Association. Our website is:
www.oldcedarcountyjail.com
In January 2015, Keith Whitlatch met with the Cedar County Board of Supervisors in reference to paying
off the balance owed on the old jail. Twelve years ago the Cedar County Board of Supervisors sold the
old jail and all the property that it sat on to the Cedar County Friends of Historic Preservation for $25.
The jail was to be paid for at one dollar per year for 25 years. Each January, Keith has faithfully gone to
the Cedar County Auditor’s office and paid the dollar. A year ago, Keith had talked to some of the Board
of Supervisors informally and they were in agreement to let Keith pay it off in full. When Keith met with
the supervisors in their regular session, they voted to accept the balance of $13 and directed the auditor
to issue the deed. The old jail is now owned by the Cedar County Friends of Historic Preservation and is
known as the Old Cedar County Jail/Museum. I have contacted Cedar County Auditor, Cari Gritton, and
she had not completed the process. She has forwarded the information the Cedar County Attorney to
prepare a warranty deed on the property. She Has notified me that a quick deed was being recorded
February 15 and is being mailed to me. Hope I will have it in time for the meeting.
In , January of 2015, the annual meeting of the Old Cedar County Jail/Museum was held at the Mill
Creek Café in Clarence, Iowa, with 19 members and guests in attendance. Following a delicious meal,
served by the Ladies of the Mill Creek Café, a short business meeting was held. Keith Whitlatch
presented a brief report of the activities for 2014. We had continued our practice of honoring three
former Sheriff’s of Cedar County. We honored Jack Leverenz 1959 to 1963, Dick Barden 1963 to 1972,
and Dick Hancock 1972 to 1976. All three of these former sheriffs are now deceased. Grace Leverenz,
widow of Jack Leverenz was in attendance at this program in August 2014. Grace passed away in 2015.
Lora Mae (Ike) Ward, who had worked in the Sheriff’s office in the old courthouse was in attendance. Ike
passed away in 2015. Surviving Ike is her husband Dick Ward, who was an Iowa Highway Patrolman,
stationed in Tipton and was later an inspector for the State Fire Marshal’s office. Dick had worked
closely for many years with Jack Leverenz, Dick Barden and Dick Hancock.
Also discussed was the 175th anniversary of the founding of the City of Tipton in 2015 and the Old
Jail’s role in the anniversary celebration. It was decided to not have any special activities at the old jail,
except that the building would be open during celebration for tours and viewing.
The annual election of officers for the year 2015 was held.. The officers are; President, Keith L
Whitlatch; Vice President, Dr. Frederick(Fritz) Drexler; Acting Secretary, Daisy Wingert and Treasurer,
Jim Jorgensen.
In 2014, Jerry Wiebel, publisher of the” Our Iowa Magazine” and his wife Paula made one of their
monthly road trips to a County in Iowa, and in the fall of 2014, visited Cedar County. The article they
wrote and the pictures they took were in the April/May, 2015 , issue of the “Our Iowa Magazine”. It was
a two-page article and gave good coverage to the old Cedar County Jail/ Museum. We have had people,
visit the jail as a result of the article.
In April, there was a meeting of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway organization that Keith Whitlatch
attended. Although it primarily consisted of places of interest right on the Lincoln Highway, part of the
highway corridor attractions would also include the old Cedar County Jail/ Museum. Keith is past
president of the Iowa Lincoln Highway Association.
A representative from” Discover Iowa”, a travel guide about Iowa, visited the jail, and it may be
featured in an upcoming issue of their travel guide.
We have also obtained several rolls of the Sheriff’s badge stickers from Cedar County Sheriff Warren
Wethington. These are handed out to all the children that visit the old jail. They have become real
popular, and in fact some the grown-ups also want them.
Tipton ‘s 175th Anniversary was July 2, 3, 4, and 5. In 1990, Keith Whitlatch, had his team of Belgians,
Sampson and Donovan on the Tipton Lions Club trolley with local historian, Martha Jane Henry acting as
tour guide. They conducted tours of historic sites in Tipton(special note here, we have since located a
copy of the videotape made of that historic tour). Martha Jane Henry has since passed away, but we
decided to re-create as much as possible of her guided tours. Bob and Alice Whitlatch provided two
teams of horses for the tours. Keith, assisted by board member Denny Dykstra, drove one of the teams
on the Tipton Lions Club trolley, and Bob drove the other team on a wagon of his with seats on it. Keith
conducted the tours on the trolley, and Kris Clark was tour guide on part of Bob’s rides. The rides were
given from 10 AM to 4 PM on Friday, July 3 and after the parade until 4 PM on Saturday, July 4. For the
parade, Keith drove a team of Bob and Alice’s horses on the old prisoner wagon. Out-of-town people
attending the festivities seem to enjoy the horse-drawn tours of Tipton. The tours originated at the Old
Cedar County Jail/Museum and went by many historic places of interest in Tipton, including the old jail
that was the Cedar County jail prior to the one being built in 1892. This old, old jail is now used as a
private residence. Daisy had a banner made for both sides of the jail wagon.
We continue to have numerous groups tour the old jail, plus people coming on the first Saturday of each
month when we are open from 10 AM to 2 PM.. In October, a busload from the Quad Cities toured the
old jail. They had first stopped at Tiffany’s Bakery, across the alley from the old jail for some of their
famous crescents. Jerry and Paula Wiebel had also stopped there in 2014 when they made Cedar County
their road trip, and also had featured them in the article in the Our Iowa Magazine. The tie-in with the
bakery is interesting, as the bakery has been there a long time and many times the jailers at the old jail
would get baked good for the prisoners. The safe from the bakery was moved to the vestibule of the
jail.
Keith tries to conduct as many of the tours as possible, since he lived at the residence for a month and
had supervised the operation of the facility for 23 years. When this is not possible one of our other
board members fills in.
This year two people that rode in the annual Ragbrai, rode in honor of Robert Sproat, the only peace
officer killed in the line of duty in Cedar County. Today Robert Sproat would be called a reserve deputy
or officer. The riders were Iowa Highway Patrolman Michael Messerich and his wife Abby. They came to
the Old Jail to learn more about Sproat
The jail was open for the annual Tipton Ridiculous day’s celebration.
The old prisoner wagon was on display at the Cedar County Historical Society Prairie Days on Saturday,
September 12, 2015.
We had a food stand at the annual antique car, truck, tractor show in the parking lot North and East of
the Cedar County courthouse. This has become a good fundraiser for our organization.
On November 28, the Saturday following Thanksgiving, a Holiday Open House was held at the old
Jail/Museum. This was also Small Business Saturday in Tipton and we had quite a few visitors. Mrs. Santa
Claus Chris Burmeister, was there, and we also had cookie decorating for the children. The bake sale was
successful. The facility was beautifully decorated in and out.
On December 12, in conjunction with the Tipton Lions Club’s annual Tour of Lights, the Old Jail/Museum
was opened from 5 PM to 9 PM. The house and old jail glow with white lights on the outside, which has
been a yearly contribution from Ron Challis. They are lit from late November until mid January.
Luminaries line the walk and perimeter of the property for this night. There was a bake sale and Mrs.
Santa was again in attendance with her candy canes. The Buchanan House Winery, owned by Linda and
Randy Weaver, provided wine for wine tasting. The Buchanan house Winery is a local winery that is
located south of the old village of Buchanan. There was an excellent turnout of visitors. Can you imagine
the ghost of prisoners past seeing us serve wine in the old jail??
We continue to sell puzzles, postcards, T-shirts and Christmas decorations of the old jail. We do not
charge for touring the old jail/Museum but free will donations are appreciated. Our major sources of
funding are dues, plus the donations, and fundraisers such as the food stand at the antique car, truck,
and tractor show holiday open house bake sales. We also receive major support from the Iowa State
Sheriffs and Deputies Association.(ISSDA) In November, Keith and board member Denny Dykstra
attended a board meeting with the Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies’ Association in Cedar Rapids. They
voted to donate $2500. This is the same amount they have contributed yearly since the Old Cedar
County Jail/Museum became the official Museum for the Association statewide. This support is greatly
appreciated.
As you can see it has been a very good year at the Old Cedar County jail/Museum. Our biggest problem
is having a sufficient number of volunteers to work the projects. We plan on being open first Saturday of
each month from 10 AM to 2 PM. Occasionally this doesn’t happen due to weather, or Keith’s inability
to get someone lined up. It’s not difficult work., You don’t have to be real well-versed on the facility.
Some people just like to walk through and look. One of the more popular exhibits in the jail is the photoop of the Sheriff and prisoner. Little kids in particular, and sometimes the grown-ups enjoy having their
picture taken as sheriff and or prisoner.
Projects for next year include renovation of the bathroom in the house. This is the only usable toilet
facility in the house or jail. There is no water in the jail portion and the toilets in the cell area are strictly
for decoration. . The tiles on the wall need to be replaced and we need to consider a new stool. There is
new carpet the floor of the bathroom that was donated and installed by Keller furniture within the past
10 years. New gutters are needed on the house and jail, as well painting outside trim. The roof
overhang on the bay living room window is need of repair or replacement. The jail garage is empty and
needs to be cleaned out before it can be rented. It contains several stretcher/cots that were left over
from when Dale and Jeannie Cook lived there. At that time, Dale was involved with civil defense in Cedar
County and the stretcher/cots were available to be used in emergencies. There are old appliances that
have been left behind by previous residents. The prisoner wagon, owned by Keith and Bob Whitlatch sits
outside on the property. Last year was covered with a tarp but so far this year Keith and has not gotten
It covered. We need to consider a permanent shelter for the wagon as it is a popular attraction for
visitors.
The Linn County Sheriff’s office has made all new cards for our ‘99 County Sheriff’s Board’ in the jail and
they need to be placed on the board. We need volunteers to watch the jail on the first Saturday of each
month, and help with special projects!
We’re always looking for new projects for the old Cedar County Jail/Museum. An example of a new
project was the wine tasting at the annual Tipton Lions Club Tour of Lights. This was suggested by Linda
Beck, the new Tipton Economic Development Director/Tourism Director for Tipton. This appeared to go
over real good. I was not able to attend it, as I was driving horses, but each time when we drove by The
Old Jail, there seem to be a real good crowd.
I wish to thank everyone who helped make this a successful year at the old Cedar County Jail/Museum.
With your help and support, 2016 promises to be an interesting and exciting year.
Report of Keith L Whitlatch, President of Cedar County friends of Historic Preservation for 2015.