Vernon County Jail - 100 Years - Nevada, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 37° 50.407 W 094° 21.479
15S E 380511 N 4188944
Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here....
Waymark Code: WM11VYD
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 12/25/2019
Views: 0
County of jail: Vernon County
Location of jail: Location of Marker: Main St. & Hunter St., Bushwacker Museum, Nevada
Architectural Style: Federal
Plaque Text:
BUSHWHACKER
MUSEUM
Vernon County Jail 1860 - 1960
Cellroom Built Before Civil War
Survived Burning of Nevada, 1863
Front Part Added 1871
Museum Established 1965
Entered on the National Register
Of Historic Places 1977
"The Vernon County Jail, Sheriff's House and Office (Bushwhacker Museum), 229
North Main Street, Nevada, Missouri, is a near L-shaped, stone building. It is
composed of:
1) a two-story, rectangular-plan, Federal-style residence,
2) a
two-story, four-room office, and
3) a one-story, rectangular jail. The office
portion of the building serves as a passage between the residence (on the east) and the jail (on the west).
"The Vernon County Jail, Sheriff's House and Office (Bushwhacker Museum), which
faces east onto North Main Street, is located on the southwest corner of the
intersection of Hunter and North Main streets. Surrounding features include a
parking lot to the east (southeast corner of the intersection), the First Baptist Church to the northeast (northeast corner of the intersection), a one-story, brick
commercial structure to the north (northwest corner of the intersection), and a
metal-sheathed "butler" building to the west (southeast corner of the intersection
of Hunter and Ash streets). South and southeast of the building are commercial
structures of the downtown business district; the Vernon County Courthouse is
one block south and east of the museum.
"Property structures include a brick summer kitchen (now an office for the curator
and storage space) to the south and the Bushwhacker Store and restroom facilities
to the southwest. An unpaved alley runs along the rear of the property. Concrete
sidewalks border the east and north sides of the property at the street curb;
other walks lead to the north, south, and main (east) entrances. A concrete
walkway joins the entrance to the summer kitchen and the south doorway to the
Sheriff's Office. There is minimal landscaping; most is confined to the primary (east) and north facades of the Sheriff's House.
PRESENT STATUS
"Purchase of the property west of the Vernon County Jail, Sheriff's House and
Office in 1975 will provide room (when funds are available) to build an exact replica of a log jail first proposed on September 10, 1857, but never completed due to the Civil War. Other plans of the Vernon County Historical Society include possible reconstruction of the gallows and an Indian pole "lodge" reminiscent of those of the Osage Nation abandoned in the Vernon County area following the Treaty of 1825." ~ NRHP Nomination Form