New County Jail

Kelly_A has added a photo to the pool:

Still sharing photos that I took while visiting Appomattox Court House National Historical Park last month.

This building is called the New County Jail and construction started in 1870 as a replacement to the wooden jail that which was located just across the street and burned to the ground.

Some interesting facts about this building include:

* Due to the Civil War supplies and skilled workers were not available to continue construction so it took six (6) years to complete

* You can clearly see a distinct change in the bricks used to build the jail. This is also due to the delay in construction as the original brick was no longer available.

* This jail is one of the first structures to be built with iron bars placed between the brick and plaster. This prevented prisoners from chiseling an escape hole, a problem they had with the wooden structure.

* It operated as a jail until 1892. From 1892 until 1940 its sole purpose was as a district polling place for the Clover Hill District. It remained vacant and abandoned from 1940 until 1963 when a two year renovation project began by the National Park Service. Additional renovations were completed in the late 1990's and it was deemed permanently preserved in 2000.


Thanks for taking the time to look, your comments are welcome and appreciated! How else do I know you were here?

Appomattox Court House National Historic Park |New County Jail |

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