{"nrhp_refnum":"00000943","name":"Perry County Jail","other_names":["Perry County Jail Museum"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"108 W. Jackson St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pinckneyville","county":"Perry County","state":"IL","lat":38.08061161300003,"lon":-89.38340988199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-08-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Law"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick jail with an attached Italianate sheriff's residence at 108 West Jackson Street in Pinckneyville, Perry County, Illinois, built in 1871 and now operated as the Perry County Jail Museum.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is locally significant under Criterion A for its role in the development of the Perry County legal system. It served as jail and sheriff's home from 1871, and its cells, artwork and displays preserve the story of law and justice in the county.","narrative":"Built in 1871 at 108 West Jackson Street in Pinckneyville, this brick building combined a county jail with an Italianate sheriff's residence. Plans were drawn by Samuel Hannaford of Cincinnati, and the contract went to a builder from Indianapolis at a price of $14,150. The jail replaced a small 1830s brick jail on the same site. Inside, eight iron cells stand in two back-to-back rows, surrounded by inner and outer corridors of riveted iron grillwork, with a separate cell for women prisoners on the second floor of the house. The sheriff's department used the building until 1987, and county offices and storage followed. Since 1993 the Perry County Historical Society has run it as a museum. Its exterior remains largely original apart from a changed roof and a few additions. The property was listed for its role in the county's legal history, including sheriffs' work during labor strife, Prohibition-era crime and a 1912 hanging held there.","period_of_significance":"1871-1943","architect_builder":"Hannaford, Samuel, Architect; Haugh, E., Builder","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Now used as a museum managed by the Perry County Historical Society under a lease from the county; renovation and repairs are ongoing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.476389-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/80/8938/28893880/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/00000943.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000943/36eedb498a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000943/36eedb498a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Perry_County_Jail_in_Pinckneyville.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Perry_County_Jail_in_Pinckneyville.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893880","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_County_Jail","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7169752"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/perry-county/perry-county-jail-00000943/"}