{"nrhp_refnum":"92000050","name":"Knox County Jail","other_names":["Knoxville Jail"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Public Sq., Market St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Knoxville","county":"Knox County","state":"IL","lat":40.90874187000003,"lon":-90.28511259699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-02-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick and stone county jail with a later one-story wooden addition, at the northwest corner of the Public Square facing Market Street in Knoxville, Knox County, Illinois. It was completed in 1845.","why_significant":"The jail is locally significant under Criterion A for its link to the governmental and political administration of Knox County from 1845 to 1873. It served as the county's main jail until the county seat moved to Galesburg. It was also the site of the only official hanging in Knox County, in 1873.","narrative":"Built in 1845 at the northwest corner of the Public Square in Knoxville, the Knox County Jail combined a brick front section, which held the office and the jailer's family quarters, with a stone rear section containing the cells. The cell block has six solitary cells, each five by nine feet, surrounded by massive stone walls, plus two holding cells upstairs. Alvah Wheeler built it under a contract relet after an earlier contract with Zelotes Cooley was rescinded. It replaced an insecure log jail. The building held murderers, horse thieves, mentally ill people awaiting transport, and petty offenders until the county seat moved to Galesburg in 1873. It was also the site of the county's only official hanging, that of John M. Osborne in March 1873. A wooden addition around 1900 turned it into a residence. Restored from 1961 to 1968 by Knox County Historic Sites, it now forms part of the county museum and receives visitors each year.","period_of_significance":"1845-1873","architect_builder":"Cooley, Zelotes; Wheeler, Alvah","architectural_style":"Mid-19th century","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Restored by Knox County Historic Sites between 1961 and 1968 and now open to the public as part of the Knox County Museum; the wooden addition is used for museum storage.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.217432-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/84/8932/28893284/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/92000050.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000050/fea9f3b523-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000050/fea9f3b523-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Knox_County_Jail,_Knoxville.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Knox_County_Jail,_Knoxville.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893284","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knox_County_Jail","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q23302759"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/knox-county/knox-county-jail-92000050/"}