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Prison to Preservation - The History of the Sheriff's Residence and Jail
- Cathryn Stanley
- Jul 16
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 17
Belmont County was the ninth and last county to be established under the government of the Northwest Territory. It was established by an act of Governor St. Clair on September 7, 1801, out of what had been parts of Jefferson and Washington counties.
Belmont County’s first courthouse was temporarily in Jacob Kepshire’s log cabin, and a nearby barn was used as the county jail. The first court was held Tuesday, Nov. 4, 1801. A more permanent, two-story brick building was constructed on the site of the old Avondale School for $500.
In 1801, the village of Pultney was ordered to erect a structure of hewn logs, with a “shingle roof, strongly built, with a large partition across the center, to be occupied as a ‘goal’",
In 1803, the people of Newellstown invited the governor of the Northwest Territory, Arthur St. Clair, to visit their town. The town was renamed to St. Clairsville in his honor. On April 1, 1803, the state’s first General Assembly appointed a commission to determine if moving the county seat from Pultney (south of Bellaire) was necessary. The commission found that St. Clairsville was the “most proper place,” and the county seat was moved in April 1804.
The first courthouse in St. Clairsville was a two-story building located at the intersection of East Main and Sugar Streets in “Frog Hollow,” but it was quickly outgrown and was said to be under constant repair. Due to a steep grade leading to the courthouse, heavy traffic was rerouted, and a stone wall was built to protect it.
In 1812, the commissioners asked for bids for constructing a more pretentious courthouse. The square, two-story Flemish bond brick building with a cupola and high spire was built in 1815 by contractor William Brown for $56,040 and was used for 71 years. In 1818, two brick county offices were built on either side. Some think this courthouse was built on the site of the previous one, while others believe it was built on the site of the present Sheriff’s Residence. The History of the Upper Ohio Valley, page 468, says the “existing Belmont County Sheriff’s Residence was built on the site of the 1815 courthouse.”
The second county jail was constructed in St. Clairsville in 1804. The fee fixed for construction was $1,000 for the jail and jailer’s rooms and $70 for raising an upper story for a courthouse. Donations covered the cost, and the building was used for court purposes until 1814.
In 1819, a contract for constructing a new county jail was set. According to specifications, the building was to be built of brick, like those used in constructing the courthouse, and be two stories high. The first story was to be nine feet with an entry six feet wide through the middle, and to contain “two rooms for dungeons and two jailer’s rooms.” The building was to be completed by January 1, 1821, and cost $95 for grading and $3,040 for furnishing materials and erecting the buildings (awarded to William Brown).
The third jail was found “wholly inadequate to confine the ever-increasing number of prisoners,” and in 1842, it was again found necessary to build a stone jail. The structure was erected by Charles H. Bailey and Charles Collins for $38,002. The infamous hanging of Thomas Carr took place in this building.
The Belmont County Courthouse was once the center of a long dispute over the location of the county’s seat.. By the 1850s, the need for a larger courthouse sparked a 25-year “war” between Pultney and St. Clairsville. The citizens of Pultney wanted to restore the county seat to their community. The Ohio General Assembly ended the dispute in 1883 by “indefinitely postponing” a bill to move the seat to Bellaire, permanently establishing the county seat in St. Clairsville.
In April 1884, Ohio Senator Williams passed a bill authorizing and requiring the construction of a courthouse and jail at St. Clairsville, at a cost not exceeding $100,000. After the bill became law, county commissioners Owen Meehan, Nathaniel Taylor, and Morris Cope advertised for plans and bids, and the present courthouse was constructed for $272,484.52. The building was constructed on the site of the former Thomas Frasier Hosterly and was designed by J.W. Yost of Columbus. Bonded indebtedness of $155,000 was deducted from the total cost, leaving $117,484. 52 paid by annual levy. The courthouse was remodeled in 1978 for $1.2 million and again in 2016 for $2,029,500.
A noted architect, Yost designed the Belmont County Sheriff's Residence (now the Belmont County Heritage Museum) in the Victorian Richardson Romanesque architectural style. He also designed the attached jail and the adjacent Belmont County Courthouse.. He designed the Belmont County Children’s Home outside of Barnesville and eight county courthouses in Ohio.. Yost was from Clarington and started his architectural firm in Bellaire, later moving it to Columbus.
He was instrumental in organizing the Association of Ohio Architects in 1885 (still operating today) and was named a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1889. He moved to New York City in 1900. A number of his works are listed for their architecture in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The spatial layout of the two buildings is found in many mid-nineteenth-century courthouses and jail complexes, not only in Ohio but throughout the Midwest, and was intended to facilitate the swift execution of local justice and demonstrate strength and prosperity. It is not set aside in a separate square or on a side street, but is a prominent feature along St. Clairsville’s Main Street, part of the National Road.
In the late 19th century, Ohio law required the sheriff and his family to live on the premises of the jail. President Rutherford B. Hayes championed this prison reform movement. The challenge to architects was to create a building that not only served a civic and institutional purpose but also worked as a residence. Yost’s design for the sheriff’s residence contrasts with the courthouse, appearing more residential and decorative.
The Belmont County Sheriff’s Residence was built on the site of the 1815 courthouse. At the time, it was described as a “unique, modern two-story brick building.” It served as an addition to the newly erected, substantial jail. The jail was bid out with the courthouse, and the Sheriff’s Residence was a separate contract, costing approximately $11,000 to build.
From 1890 until 1976, each sheriff and his family lived in the 2,100 square foot residence, including a large kitchen for the jail on the main floor and a bedroom on the second floor for juvenile girls. The sheriff’s wife acted as the matron, cooking for the staff and prisoners and caring for female prisoners. George Neff (1960-1975) was the last sheriff to live here, moving out in 1976 after living here with his family for 16 years.
The three-story jail is built of the same local limestone and sandstone as the courthouse, but is simple and unadorned. It was designed to be more secure and spacious than the previous jail, containing three stories and a basement. Those who committed felonies were kept on the first floor, misdemeanors on the second floor, and women and trustees on the third floor. Prisoners kept in the jail included those arrested by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and towns and villages that didn’t have their own jail, as well as those arrested by Sheriff’s deputies.
It was built to house 100 inmates, but quickly became overcrowded. By the early 1900s, the jail was housing more than 200 inmates. After several expansions, it again became overcrowded. In 1938, the jail was deemed “escape-proof” with the installation of a new communication system and the implementation of a card system as a WPA clerical project. As the building’s condition worsened, escapes became a frequent problem, particularly in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
March 14, 1952, St. Clairsville, Clyde Lazure 20-year-old prisoner in the Belmont County jail here, is shown stuck in the wall of the jail as he attempted to escape last night by digging his way to freedom. Lazure is from Shanksville, Pa., and is being held on charges of armed robbery of a filling station. Lazure was trapped in the wall for an hour. Night jailer Knox Alexander (Neffs) looks unconcerned as another spectator to the escape looks on.
1971 - The prisoners started a fire and a riot after being put on lockdown following a failed prison break under Sheriff Neff.
An October 28, 1982, article about another would-be prison escapee stuck in the wall. A separate article on the same front page says David E. Adams escaped again, injuring a pursuing deputy when he fled after meeting with the bondsman for the attempted escape charge.
1982 - Another front page article lists jail escapes and begins with: “Sheriffs may come and sheriffs may go. Chief Deputies may be fired, rehired, and fired again. But one thing remains constant at the Belmont County Jail - prisoners will escape."
The jail was closed in 1996 when the current Belmont County Jail was constructed. The building then became offices for 20 years, and was fully abandoned by the sheriff’s office in 1996 when the jail closed. From June 20-21, 1997, the public was invited to tour the building and see the disrepair. Of the 249 visitors, 162 provided comments. The results were 72.5 % in favor of restoration, while 27.5% thought it should be torn down (35% did not comment).
Belmont County Commissioners received a $679,000 Ohio Department of Transportation grant in the early 2000s, $150,000 in matching funds from the Belmont County Tourism Office, and $70,000 from the Belmont County Department of Development to restore the building. After a December 12, 2014, open house, the building was opened as a county history museum (The Belmont County Sheriff’s Residence Museum) in 2015. Belmont County Commissioners have discussed restoring the jail as recently as 2019.