The Union County Sheriff's Office

The Old Historic County Jail

The Old Union County Jail was completed in 1823 under the supervision of Robert Mills who was also the architect for other jails and buildings in the State during this period of time as well as the Washington Monument . The stone is said to have come form the nearby Humphries Quarry. The North and West wings were added in 1954 and 1960 respectively with Robert Gibbs Fant as architect. The old jail was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. No escape ever occurred from this sturdy old building. The walls are solid granite, and the center of the bars are designed with roller bearings so they tend to turn or roll if someone tried to saw through them.  The cells are still as they were the day it closed.

There were four persons by law put to death by hanging in Union County.  Three of the executions were carried out in the old jail. One took place at the hanging ground near the current Paradise Home Center.

Phineas H. Johnson hanged at the hanging grounds on Friday February 13, 1852 for murder.

Click here for more information on Johnson

Hamp Nethers hanged in the jail April 24, 1885 for murder.

William Davis hanged in the jail May 9, 1890 for murder

Brown Rogers hanged in the jail November 3, 1903 for murder. ( This is the last time a person from Union County was actually executed ) Several have received the Death Penalty, but have not been executed.

The death cell door and the hangman's hook are available for viewing at the Union County Museum.

Sheriff J. Harold Lamb ( deceased ) was the last Sheriff to live in the old jail building.

The old jail was ordered closed by the S.C. Dept. Of Corrections in April of 1985 after being declared unsafe. An agreement with the City of Union allowed County prisoners to be housed in their jail until Union County built a new jail.