{"nrhp_refnum":"82002383","name":"Ben Hill County Jail","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Pine St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fitzgerald","county":"Ben Hill County","state":"GA","lat":31.713913324000032,"lon":-83.24986175799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-08-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Law","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story red brick county jail on Pine Street in Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Georgia, built in 1909 to a Romanesque design by Atlanta architect Reginald MacEachron, with Manly & Lamon Construction Co. of Dalton as builder.","why_significant":"The jail is argued to be Fitzgerald's prime Romanesque style structure, with Tudor arches and battered walls unusual in the area, and it has fire proof construction. It was one of the first two structures built by the new Ben Hill County government and has been the county's only jail since 1909. Its sheriff's quarters, hanging platform, trapdoor and death cell reflect changes in local and state criminal justice.","narrative":"Built in 1909 on Pine Street in Fitzgerald, this red brick jail was the first for Ben Hill County, which had been created in 1906. Architect Reginald MacEachron of Atlanta designed it, and Manly & Lamon Construction Co. of Dalton won the contract with a low bid of $12,426. The T-shaped building rises two stories on a raised basement and shows Romanesque features such as Tudor arched entrances, an arcaded corbel table and battered walls. A battlemented corner tower was removed around 1925, and the front porch was replaced in 1937. Inside, riveted strap steel cells, a spiral metal stair and a second-floor gallows area remain, along with the sheriff's original living quarters, where sheriffs' families lived until the 1950s. The jail is regarded as Fitzgerald's finest Romanesque structure and as a fire proof building. It also marks the early work of the new county government and has served as the county's only jail.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Reginald MacEachron, Architect, Atlanta, GA; Manly & Lamon Const. Co., Dalton, GA.","architectural_style":"Early twentieth century Romanesque","criteria":[],"status_note":"Served as the county jail; prisoners were temporarily moved while the interior was renovated to meet state code requirements (renovation 1981).","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:41.378475-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/82002383.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002383/24befa35ed-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002383/24befa35ed-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Michael Rivera","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ben_Hill_County_Jail_Historic.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Michael Rivera</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:Ben_Hill_County_Jail_Historic.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"92000383","name":"Fitzgerald Commercial Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/fitzgerald-commercial-historic-district-92000383/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93205854","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hill_County_Jail","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16951166"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/ben-hill-county/ben-hill-county-jail-82002383/"}