Jefferson County Jail (Kentucky)
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The Jefferson County Jail is a historic structure in central
Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...
,
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
,
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. Built in 1905 in the Chicago style of architecture, it was designed by D.X. Murphy & Bros. It comprises two wings: the western, built as
cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a de ...
blocks, and the eastern, which originally housed offices. A system of corridors was used to separate male and female prisoners and black and white prisoners.Langsam, Walter E. ''National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Jefferson County Jail''. National Park Service, 1973-06-01. In 1983, the jail was converted into an office complex. Among its tenants are the offices of the Commonwealth's Attorney, the office of the Circuit Court Clerk, and the Jefferson County Public Law Library.Paranormal Investigators Visit Old Jail Building, Commonwealth's Attorney's Office
Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney, 2008. Accessed 2009-09-30.
While prisoners are no longer held in the jail, it is still significant as a leading example of public-works architecture. Its structure has been admired by many leading architects, including the renowned Finnish-American
Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer who created a wide array of innovative designs for buildings and monuments, including the General Motors Technical Center; the pa ...
. In 1973, the jail was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
for its architectural significance.


References


Further reading

*Brown, Theodore M. ''An Introduction to Louisville Architecture''. {{Authority control Government buildings completed in 1905 Local landmarks in Louisville, Kentucky Government of Louisville, Kentucky Jails on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky County government buildings in Kentucky National Register of Historic Places in Louisville, Kentucky Chicago school architecture in Kentucky 1905 establishments in Kentucky