Old Pickens Jail

Old Pickens Jail, also known as Pickens County Jail, is a historic jail located at Pickens, Pickens County, South Carolina. It was built in 1903, and is a two-story, brick building with a two-story crenellated tower. It was expanded in 1928 to provide additional space for the cellblock. The jail closed in August 1975, and has since been used as a historical museum and art gallery.[2][3]

Old Pickens Jail
Old Pickens Jail, February 2011
LocationJohnson and Pendleton Sts., Pickens, South Carolina
Coordinates34°52′51″N 82°42′21″W
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1903 (1903)
NRHP reference No.79002390[1]
Added to NRHPApril 11, 1979

This building gained infamy when Willie Earle was forcefully removed from the Pickens County Jail by a mob on February 16, 1947. When confronted by the mob, the jailer's response was: "I guess you boys know what you're doing." Willie Earle was subsequently lynched nearby in Greenville County, SC.[4]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[1]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Jill Kemmerlin; Gwen Garrett & Mark Schader (January 1979). "Old Pickens Jail" (pdf). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  3. "Old Pickens Jail, Pickens County (Johnson & Pendleton Sts., Pickens )". National Register Properties in South Carolina. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  4. West, Rebecca (June 6, 1947). "Opera In Greenville". New Yorker Magazine. Retrieved December 17, 2019.


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