The New Albany, Indiana Jail was just a few years old when four members of the Reno Gang were moved there in 1868. They were supposed to be jailed in Lexington, Indiana, but that facility wasn’t very secure. The New Albany jail, on the other hand, was considered one of the strongest jails in the Midwest. Yet local authorities tried to have it condemned, fearing violence if the outlaws were held there.
That effort failed. And the fears of the town fathers were justified; on December 12, 1868, vigilantes broke into the jail and lynched the four outlaws.
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