Old Bedford County Jail

Bedford County Jail
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	N. Spring and Jackson Sts., Shelbyville, Tennessee
Coordinates	35°29′4″N 86°27′38″W / 35.48444°N 86.46056°WCoordinates: 35°29′4″N 86°27′38″W / 35.48444°N 86.46056°W
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1866
NRHP Reference #	75001728[1]
Added to NRHP	April 1, 1975

The Old Bedford County Jail, sometimes known as the Rock House Jail,^[2] is a 19th-century jail building located near the public square in Shelbyville, Tennessee.

The old jail is a two-story building built in 1866-7 from solid hand-hewn limestone.^[2][3][4] Goodspeed's 1887 History of Tennessee described it as "one of the handsomest and most conspicuous buildings in Shelbyville". According to Goodspeed, it was "one of the most secure jails" in Tennessee, lighted and ventilated by "long, narrow windows, through which the smallest person could not escape".^[4]

The old jail was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.^[1]

Bedford County operates a modern county jail at 210 North Spring Street in Shelbyville.^[5]

References

1. National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. "History of Bedford County, Tennessee". Bedford County Historical Society. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
3. West, Carroll Van (1995). Tennessee's Historic Landscapes: A Traveler's Guide. University of Tennessee Press. p. 340.
4. "Bedford County". The History of Tennessee, Illustrated. Nashville: The Goodspeed Publishing Company. 1887. Retrieved June 15, 2014, from rootsweb.ancestry.com.
5. "Contact Information". Bedford County Sheriff's Department. Retrieved June 15, 2014.