Mercer County Jail
Also known as: The Slammer Restaurant; The Great Escape Bed and Breakfast
Why it's listed
Built in 1909 on College Avenue in Aledo, directly across from the county courthouse, this Tudor Revival building served Mercer County as both a jail and the sheriff's home. Moline architect Clair F. Drury designed it, and Harney Brothers of Aledo built it from dark red brick and cream-colored glazed terra cotta shipped by rail from Brazil, Indiana. Stewart Jail Works of Cincinnati installed the cells. The sheriff's family lived in the east half, while the west half held cell blocks for juveniles and women, an infirmary, a padded cell and a solitary confinement room. It was designed for 35 inmates and cost about $30,000, paid without raising property taxes. It replaced an 1870 stone jail that a grand jury had found unsanitary. The building later became a restaurant and bed and breakfast, and it keeps much of its original exterior, woodwork and cell fittings.
Significance in brief: The building was the county's third jail, funded without a property tax increase, and it combined a correctional facility with the sheriff's family home. It retains its original cell blocks, padded cell and infirmary. The surviving text does not state the criteria, but it stresses the architect, the Tudor Revival design and the building's role in county government.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 97000816, listed July 25, 1997. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 309 S. College Ave., Aledo |
|---|---|
| County | Mercer County |
| Listed | July 25, 1997 |
| Reference number | 97000816 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Architect Clair F. Drury (Whitsitt and Drury, Moline); builder Harney Brothers Company of Aledo; cell ironwork by Stewart Jail Works Company, Cincinnati |
| Architectural style | Tudor Revival |
| Areas of significance | Law, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Converted to The Slammer Restaurant and The Great Escape Bed and Breakfast; the former cell blocks are used for restaurant seating and the sheriff's family bedrooms serve as bed and breakfast rooms. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Downtown Aledo Historic District |
| Coordinates | 41.19932, -90.74965 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 97000816.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q23302815
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.