Old Pickens Jail Explained

Old Pickens Jail
Location:	Johnson and Pendleton Sts., Pickens, South Carolina
Coordinates:	34.8808°N -82.7058°W
Added:	April 11, 1979
Refnum:	79002390

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.^{[1] [2]}

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.^[3]

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Jill Kemmerlin . Gwen Garrett . Mark Schader . amp . Old Pickens Jail . National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory . January 1979. 7 July 2014.
2. Web site: Old Pickens Jail, Pickens County (Johnson & Pendleton Sts., Pickens) . National Register Properties in South Carolina . South Carolina Department of Archives and History . 7 July 2014.
3. Web site: Opera In Greenville. West. Rebecca. June 6, 1947. New Yorker Magazine. December 17, 2019.