Picture Tolland: When the Barn Was A Barn

TOLLAND, CT — The latest installment of the Picture Tolland series takes us to the white barn behind the Old Tolland Jail located at 749 Tolland Stage Road.

The picture was taken when it was still a barn on April 23, 1974.

The barn was constructed in the 1920s, to house the animals used by Tolland County Jail. When the jail closed in 1960, the building was transferred to the state and the state operated the jail from 1960 to 1968, according to local historians.

In 1974 and 1975, the barn was renovated into the garage for the Tolland Volunteer Ambulance Association after the town took control of the building, fire department historians tell us. Tolland Ambulance was there until 1995, when the Crystal Lake Road Firehouse was built.

The barn later became the Tolland Senior Center, Tolland Teen Center, the Resident Troopers Office, and is currently the home of the Tolland Military Museum.

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Picture Tolland is a periodic series featuring images of the town, past and present.