{"nrhp_refnum":"98000986","name":"Clay County Jail","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"195 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Louisville","county":"Clay County","state":"IL","lat":38.772159298000076,"lon":-88.50074124399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-08-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Law"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half story brick Queen Anne building at 195 Main Street in Louisville, Clay County, Illinois, built in 1893 as a combined county jail and sheriff's residence. A 1913 power plant is also on the property.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant under Criterion A for law, as a county jail that symbolized enforcement of the law and housed both prisoners and the sheriff's family. It also meets Criterion C as a good example of a masonry Queen Anne building, with steel cells and fireproof construction by the Pauley Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis.","narrative":"Built in 1893 on the corner of Main and Broadway in Louisville, this brick building served as the Clay County Jail and the sheriff's home under one roof. It replaced an earlier jail destroyed by fire in 1892 after years of disrepair. The Pauley Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis supplied the steel cells, doors, and ceilings, and the concrete floors gave the interior a fireproof design. The sheriff's residence has Queen Anne features such as an asymmetrical shape, a steep hipped roof, gabled dormers, brick stringcourses, and spindlework porches. The cell block holds sixteen prisoners in four cells, with a separate women's area upstairs. The sheriff's wife was paid to cook meals for inmates, and living on site let the sheriff keep constant watch. A 1913 brick power plant that heated the jail and courthouse also contributes to the property. It was recognized for its role in county law enforcement and for its architecture, with a period of significance from 1893 to 1948.","period_of_significance":"1893-1948","architect_builder":"Pauley Jail Building & Manufacturing Company","architectural_style":"Queen Anne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The 1913 power plant is now used to display agricultural machinery for the Clay County Historical Society, and the property's current function includes a museum. The tops of the chimneys have been removed and some porch elements were removed due to deterioration.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.477825-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/8918/28891874/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/98000986.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000986/33074d2e27-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000986/33074d2e27-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clay_County_Jail_in_Louisville.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clay_County_Jail_in_Louisville.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891874","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_County_Jail","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16827074"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/clay-county/clay-county-jail-98000986/"}