Creepy. That word best describes what was once one of the most unique jails in the entire U.S. Known as the Squirrel Cage Jail, it was one of only 18 ever built. The largest of all of them, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, will be featured this weekend on 'Ghost Adventures.'

The Squirrel Cage Jail was the Pottawattamie County Jail for nearly 100 years, from 1885 to 1969. It was a rotary jail with cells that rotated inside. There was only one way in or out of the cells. It was considered escape-proof.

One of the prisoners held during its time as a jail was the Tacoma Axe Killer, Jake Bird. He was convicted for killing a 53-year-old woman and her 17-year-old daughter in Tacoma, Washington in 1947. Prior to his execution, Bird would admit to 44 other murders in 11 states, including Iowa. One of America's first serial killers, nearly all of the victims of Bird, an African-American, where white women. His weapon of choice was always an axe or hatchet. He was held in the Squirrel Cage Jail for a time in the mid-1920s after attacking a couple from Carter Lake, Iowa.

Instagram @squirrelcagejail_ghost
Instagram @squirrelcagejail_ghost
loading...

Today, the Squirrel Cage Jail is a museum with plenty of stories from its past, and claims of people seeing ghosts. Is it really haunted? 'Ghost Adventures' takes a stab at that during the new episode "Axe Killer Jail." It airs Saturday, October 19 at 8 p.m.on the Travel Channel.

More From 98.1 KHAK