Hampton County Jail
National Register Listing
Street Address:
702 First Street West, Hampton, SC (Hampton County)
Alternate Name:
Old Hampton County Jail; Hampton County Museum
Record Number:
S10817725012
Description and Narrative:
The Hampton County Jail, constructed 1879-1880, is significant as a public facility designed and used to enforce the law as well as the racial segregation policies of the American South in its administration of local justice for the ensuing century following Reconstruction. The jail was the only holding facility for newly- arrested persons in Hampton County until it closed in 1976. It is also significant architecturally as a unique surviving example of a small, late nineteenth century county penal facility with an architecture reflecting various alterations during its one hundred-plus year history. The jail is two stories in height and three bays wide by two bays deep, with a central, one-story entry portico on the facade and a service porch at the rear. The jailkeeper’s living quarters occupied the first floor, while the second floor was dedicated to the cellblocks for both white and black prisoners, including both men and women. The jail was dramatically altered in 1920, circa 1925, and a third time in the 1960s, with the first renovation adding a rear extension to the first floor for additional living space for the jailer, the second renovation modifying the jail cells on the second floor, and the third renovation dividing the first floor rooms on the northeast side into additional jail cells. The building nevertheless retains many of its original features, including a six-celled iron cage system that occupies the northeast side of the second story, but it also reflects a number of significant architectural alterations that document the building’s ongoing modification to meet the changing correctional needs of the community. Listed in the National Register June 23, 2011.
Period of Significance:
1879 – 1880;1920;1925;circa 1960
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Architecture;Law
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
June 23 2011
