{"nrhp_refnum":"80001221","name":"Pierce County Jail","other_names":["Blackshear Jail"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Taylor St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Blackshear","county":"Pierce County","state":"GA","lat":31.302841241000067,"lon":-82.24037790999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-05-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick jail, about 32 by 30 feet, on Taylor Street in Blackshear, Pierce County, Georgia, completed in 1894 by the Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis.","why_significant":"The nomination cites its fireproof construction, ornamental brickwork unique in the area, and the use of a nationally known jail builder. It also matters locally because it served as the county jail for 32 years (1894-1926) and then as the city jail for about 50 years.","narrative":"Built in 1894 on Taylor Street in Blackshear, this two-story brick building served as the Pierce County jail until 1926, when a larger facility was built closer to the courthouse. The city then used it as a jail and police headquarters until 1976. The jail was designed to be nearly fireproof, after an 1880 fire destroyed an earlier wooden jail, and it relies on brick, concrete and steel. A three-story square tower rises at the center of the front, and corbeled brickwork, segmented-arch windows and brick dripstones decorate the walls. Inside, vaulted corrugated metal ceilings and two original second-floor cells of welded metal strips survive. The contract went to the Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis, and the building cost $4,992. Later additions include a frame porch and early-1970s concrete block sections, one housing fire trucks. The distinctive tower and brickwork were unusual for the area, and the building holds an important place in local history.","period_of_significance":"1894","architect_builder":"Pauly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as vacant since 1976 in the narrative; the classification section marks it unoccupied and used for storage, and a volunteer fire department addition houses two fire trucks. Condition is checked excellent.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:41.287115-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/80001221.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001221/4f13820145-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001221/4f13820145-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Bubba73 (Jud McCranie)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pierce_County_Jail,_Blackshear,_GA,_Us.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bubba73 (Jud McCranie)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pierce_County_Jail,_Blackshear,_GA,_Us.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93209263","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierce_County_Jail","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7191788"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/pierce-county/pierce-county-jail-80001221/"}