Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Picture Courtesy of Jim Kuntz

sign between cells on side wall:

Louisville resident Edwin Haun can put you into jail with a simple phone call.

Haun and other Clay County Historical Society members take care of the Clay County Museum, which still includes the massive steel cell blocks of the old jail that was built in 1893. You can enter the jail museum, which is listed on the National Register of Historical Places, by appointment. Unlike its former inmates, a visitor can leave at the end of the tour without posting bail.

"If you want to come and visit we can open up anytime ," said Haun, a cheerful retiree ready to answer any questions he can.

The personable tours start in more comfortable environs where the Sheriff administered his duties and his family used to live. That section was also used as a hotel starting in 1871. The Historical Society has an old hotel register from that era. That part of the museum also includes many items of Clay County history from the 1800s. A visitor to the jail museum can see old military uniforms donated by Clay County residents. There are kitchen utensils, furniture, tools and illustrations from the 1800s.

"We have a lot of people come through asking about the things we have here," Haun said. "They ask about the grand piano and we tell them that it came from John Logan."

Logan was a famous Civil War General from Illinois and later a successful politician. The museum also has items tied to John Riley Tanner, a Louisville resident who served as governor of Illinois from 1897-1901. The Tanner house in Louisville is a historic landmark as well.

Another unusual historic artifact is a Sheriff's souvenir from a Louisville bank robbery in 1934. Haun pulled from a glass display case a sawed-off pump-action shotgun. Though a bit rusty, it still looks intimidating. He said that the gun's user was arrested and apparently stayed in the old jail.

The old jail section still draws great interest. It was used by Clay County until 1975. many of the doors are in place, and sleeping mats hang at an angle with chains attached to the steel walls. There is still the metallic clang of the doors that must have been depressing for any inmate decades ago.

The Historical Society has been linked with the jail since 1976 when the Clay County Board transfered possession to the organization dedicated to preserving local history. The jail was considered not just an old government building but also an architectural treasure from the 1800s. Its stone masonry is in the Queen Anne style and its steep hipped roof and gabled dormers recall an era when buildings were stylish in an eye-catching way.

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