Lancaster County Jail
National Register Listing
Street Address:
208 W. Gay St., Lancaster, SC (Lancaster County)
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817729002
Description and Narrative:
The 1823 Lancaster County Jail is a significant example of Robert Mills architecture and reflects his innovative ideas on the proper construction of penal institutions. The jail is a stuccoed brick building of three stories with Palladian style stone quions and stringcourses. It features a gable roof, iron grates, first floor windows and doors within recessed arches, and gable parapets with coping and a raised center section. Although Mills never signed his buildings and often failed to sign his plans, a number of building characteristics and facts substantiate the 1823 jail is his design. Some characteristics of Mills’ work are the following: Mills advocated free circulation of air in jail construction, and this was achieved in the Lancaster County Jail by placing barred cages for prisoners in the middle of the room; the absence of a dungeon reflects a Mills innovation in penal reform; classifying prisoners according to their crime was a Mills recommendation, and this was achieved in the Lancaster County Jail by placing prison rooms for debtors on the first floor and other cells were on the second floor; Mills was a member of the Board of Public Works for the State of South Carolina from 1820-1830, and he was referred to in public documents of that period as the “State Engineer and Architect.” Listed in the National Register August 9, 1971; Designated a National Historic Landmark November 7, 1973.
Period of Significance:
1823
Level of Significance:
National
Area of Significance:
Social History;Architecture
National Register Determination:
National Historic Landmark
Date of Certification:
August 9 1971
Date of Certification as a National Historic Landmark:
November 7 1973
