Historic Scott County Jail
The Old Scott County Jail is a historic sandstone detention facility located on the courthouse square in downtown Huntsville, Tennessee, directly behind the Old Scott County Courthouse. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the old Scott County Jail is the oldest extant building in Huntsville, and its distinctive fortress design is the work of architect J. G. Barnwell of Chattanooga. After more than a century of continuous use as a working jail, the building has been preserved and repurposed as a museum and tourist attraction.
Location and Setting
The jail occupies a prominent position on the historic downtown courthouse square, located directly behind the old county courthouse in Huntsville. Together with the Old Scott County Courthouse and the First National Bank of Huntsville — also a sandstone structure from the same era and also listed on the National Register of Historic Places — the jail forms the architectural core of Huntsville’s historic civic district.
Construction and Architecture
The jail was constructed in 1904 using native sandstone that was quarried nearby. The exterior walls are made of sandstone blocks measuring five feet by four feet by three feet. The stone was quarried from the sides of the gorge encasing New River behind the jail, and still visible in each weathered block is a hole that was used to help workers get a grip on the chiseled stone during construction in 1904.
The building is topped with a castellated roofline that gives it a distinctive, fortress-like appearance. This crenellated design, characteristic of the architect’s vision, made the jail one of the most visually distinctive structures on the Cumberland Plateau.
The jail was one of several buildings in Huntsville constructed of native stone during this period, along with the Scott County Courthouse in 1906, the Huntsville Supply Store, and the Huntsville Bank. A committee was appointed to plan the construction of both the jail and the courthouse.
Third Floor Addition
The jailer’s quarters are on the first floor, and a third floor was added in 1922 to house maximum security prisoners. The third floor cells were where state inmates were kept on lockdown almost every hour of every day.
Operations and Capacity
The facility, which housed around 50 inmates, was in use for much of its century-long history. Due to overcrowding, however, it could house anywhere from 50 to over 100 inmates.
In a practice that has long since ceased, it was once common for the sheriff to live at the jail. The first floor jailer’s quarters reflected this tradition, with the sheriff’s family in effect serving as permanent residents of the building alongside its inmate population.
For a short period of time in the 1960s, inmates were housed at a new facility nearby. However, following an escape, the original jail was reopened. The jail was closed for good in 2008 with the opening of the Scott County Justice Center.
Notable Historical Events
The jail was the site of several significant and violent episodes across its century of operation.
The 1921 Kidnapping and Lynching
On May 7, 1921, Berry Bowling — accused of murdering an elderly preacher and the preacher’s wife — was kidnapped from the jail by a masked mob and hanged on nearby River Junction Road.
The Assassination of Sheriff Ellis
On August 11, 1925, Sheriff Richard “R.D.” Ellis was assassinated in the doorway of the jail when he was shot by an unknown person as he escorted a prisoner inside. The sheriff’s murder came during the height of a small-scale moonshine war in Scott County.
The Boyatt and Winchester Lynching
On June 9, 1933, Jerome Boyatt — accused of gunning down a popular Pickett County sheriff and the sheriff’s lawman son during a standoff at a Rock Creek mining camp — was kidnapped from the jail by a masked mob, along with another man, Harvey Winchester, who was accused of killing two people.
National Register of Historic Places
The Old Scott County Jail was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 for its architectural significance as one of the oldest buildings in the town of Huntsville. It remains one of only a handful of properties in Scott County to hold this designation, alongside the First National Bank of Huntsville and Barton Chapel in Robbins.
Preservation and Restoration
The aging structure was abandoned by Scott County in 2007, following the construction of a new justice center on the opposite side of town. In 2017, Huntsville Mayor Dennis Jeffers petitioned Scott County Commission to transfer ownership of the jail to the town, with a pledge that it would be properly restored and preserved, and opened for the public to enjoy. In 2018, the Town of Huntsville received a $50,000 tourism enhancement grant from the State of Tennessee to provide funding for the restoration efforts.
Following the restoration work, the Town of Huntsville leased the jail to History, Highways & Haunts LLC, which operates the jail as a tourist attraction.
Current Use
The Historic Scott County Jail now operates as a true crime and law enforcement appreciation museum spanning all three floors of the historic structure, viewable during daytime general business hours. The facility also offers flashlight tours, guided ghost hunts, and private paranormal investigations in after-dark tours.
For accessibility purposes, the second and third floors are not accessible to wheelchairs or scooters, as those floors are accessed by a staircase considered moderately strenuous.
Relationship to Other County Facilities
The Old Scott County Jail is part of the historic downtown courthouse square complex that includes the Old Scott County Courthouse at 282 Court Street and the First National Bank of Huntsville. County judicial and law enforcement functions that were once associated with the jail and courthouse square are now consolidated at the Scott County Justice Center at 535 Scott High Drive, which opened in 2008 and houses the county’s modern detention facility, courts, and Sheriff’s Department headquarters.