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Old Bedford County Jail

Coordinates: 35°29′4″N 86°27′38″W / 35.48444°N 86.46056°W / 35.48444; -86.46056
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Bedford County Jail
Old Bedford County Jail is located in Tennessee
Old Bedford County Jail
Old Bedford County Jail is located in the United States
Old Bedford County Jail
LocationN. Spring and Jackson Sts., Shelbyville, Tennessee
Coordinates35°29′4″N 86°27′38″W / 35.48444°N 86.46056°W / 35.48444; -86.46056
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1866 (1866)
NRHP reference No.75001728[1]
Added to NRHPApril 1, 1975

The Old Bedford County Jail, sometimes known as the Rock House Jail,[2] is a 19th-century jail building located near the public square in Shelbyville, Tennessee.

The old jail is a two-story building built in 1866-7 from solid hand-hewn limestone.[2][3][4] Goodspeed's 1887 History of Tennessee described it as "one of the handsomest and most conspicuous buildings in Shelbyville". According to Goodspeed, it was "one of the most secure jails" in Tennessee, lighted and ventilated by "long, narrow windows, through which the smallest person could not escape".[4]

The old jail was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[1]

Bedford County operates a modern county jail at 210 North Spring Street in Shelbyville.[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b "History of Bedford County, Tennessee". Bedford County Historical Society. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  3. ^ West, Carroll Van (1995). Tennessee's Historic Landscapes: A Traveler's Guide. University of Tennessee Press. p. 340. ISBN 9780870498817.
  4. ^ a b "Bedford County". The History of Tennessee, Illustrated. Nashville: The Goodspeed Publishing Company. 1887. Retrieved June 15, 2014, from rootsweb.ancestry.com.
  5. ^ "Contact Information". Bedford County Sheriff's Department. Retrieved June 15, 2014.