Tuscaloosa County Jail, circa 1915

cojaila_c32eae70e0[1].jpg

Title

Tuscaloosa County Jail, circa 1915

Subject

Jails

Description

This is the old Tuscaloosa County Jail, which was located on the northwest corner of Seventh Street and Lurleen Wallace Blvd. on what is now the parking lot for the current county courthouse. The previous Tuscaloosa County Courthouse is visible in the background.

On October 8, 1909, a contract for building a jail was signed with F.M. Dotson and Company for $30,000. The jail had 3 stories and 2 entrances. The eastern entrance opened into the "booking office." The rest of the first floor was divided into living quarters for the jailer and his family and a kitchen. On the second floor there was a steel cage for condemned prisoners. In the ceiling there was an iron ring to which the executioner's rope was tied. The condemned was dropped through a trap door. Only 2 executions took place in this jail.

Both the jail and the courthouse were demolished about 1962 for construction of the existing courthouse.

Information from Matthew W. Clinton's Tuscaloosa County History from the Dedication brochure for the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse, 1964.

Source

Tuscaloosa News Archive

Date

Circa 1915

Contributor

Betty Slowe (Description)
Elizabeth Bradt (Description)

Type

Photograph

Identifier

153

Coverage

Tuscaloosa (AL)

Original Format

Photograph

Physical Dimensions

8 inches x 10 inches