The Knox County Jail, located on the public square in Knoxville, is a former county jail used by Knox County, Illinois. Built in 1845, the jail was the second used in the county; it replaced a log jail which was thought to be insufficiently secure. Contractor Alvah Wheeler built the two-story brick building for $7,724. The county's only official hanging was conducted at the jail in 1873, when John M. Osborne was executed for the murder of Adelia Matthews; several hundred people came to watch his execution. Later in the same year, the county seat and the jail were both moved to Galesburg; the Knoxville jail is now part of the Knox County Museum.[2]
Knox County Jail | |
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| Location | Public Sq., Market St., Knoxville, Illinois |
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| Coordinates | 40°54′31″N 90°17′7″W / 40.90861°N 90.28528°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1845 |
| Built by | Wheeler, Alvah |
| NRHP reference No. | 92000050[1] |
| Added to NRHP | February 13, 1992 |
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The jail was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 13, 1992.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ Hutchcroft, Sally (October 20, 1991). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Knox County Jail" (PDF). Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 6, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2016.