Allegan, Michigan - Allegan County Old Jail Museum

This is the original jail in Allegan (although I've read there was one previous, maybe a log-type building) that now hosts a wide variety of museum artifacts. The neat thing about it is the story of how it came that footage in Andy Warhol's film Ciao Manhattan was shot there.

"Paul America," the star, took off from New York while they were filming. He ended up here, I am told, at a farm in New Richmond, belonging to a brother or friend. He got busted at a party along with others and ended up spending a couple weeks in the Allegan County Jail. The makers of this film caught up with him and wanted to finish shooting the movie while he was in jail because that was written in the ending. Because of the jail policies, they were not allowed to shoot the film in the present jail, so he was escorted each day across the street to the "Old Jail". If you visit there, you can see the cell that was used and is signed by the cast and people associated with the film. Edie Sedgwick was in this film as well, but not sure if she made it to Allegan. I believe she died during the filming. Besides that, the museum has many oddities to check out, and very friendly people to assist you.

Our town also was the place of residence to General Pritchard, who was in charge of the group that caught Jefferson Davis during the Civil War. His house still stands, occupied by a distant relative. There are many historic relics in our small town. [Elizabeth Engelsman, 04/12/2007]