The Franklin County Jail, located at 209 W. Main St. in Benton, is the former county jail of Franklin County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The jail was built in 1905–06 to replace the county's previous jail, which was built in the 1840s after the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

moved to Benton. Architect Joseph W. Royer designed the jail; the brick building features

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

trim, a

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

with

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

s, and a front porch which was rebuilt in 1997. The building also included the county sheriff's residence, an arrangement which allowed for the sheriff to continuously watch the prisoners. The jail housed prisoners until 1990, when a new jail was constructed after the State of Illinois condemned the old building. The Franklin County Historic Preservation Society has since converted the old jail to a historic museum. The jail building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1999. It is one of three listed properties in Franklin County. The other two are the

Sesser Opera House The Sesser Opera House is a historic theater located at 106 W. Franklin Ave. in Sesser, Illinois. The theater was built in 1914 to replace a previous theater, which had been built in 1904 and burned down ten years later. The theater was designed i ...

, in Sesser and the

West Frankfort City Hall West Frankfort City Hall, located at 108 N. Emma St., is the former city hall of West Frankfort, Illinois. The city hall was built in 1921 to serve the city, which had no city hall up until that time. West Frankfort was first settled in 1895, when ...

, in West Frankfort.

Notes

External links

Jail website
{{National Register of Historic Places Jails on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Buildings and structures in Franklin County, Illinois Government buildings completed in 1906 Museums in Franklin County, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Franklin County, Illinois 1906 establishments in Illinois

See also

Notes

External links