The stabilization of the old Franklin County jail on East Nash Street in Louisburg, begun in July 2016 by the Tar River Center for History and Culture Foundation, is well underway. Plans are to finish the project by the end of December 2017.

Constructed in 1874-1875 and heavily renovated in 1924-1925, the old jail housed inmates until 1975, when a new detention facility was completed on Market Street. The Franklin County Historical Society worked for many years to restore the building for use as a local history museum and displayed artifacts there in the early 1990s. In recent years, however, the building was vacant and slowly deteriorated.

In 2016 the Tar River Center for History and Culture Foundation offered to work with Franklin County to prevent further deterioration of the historic structure. The county leased the property to the foundation for two years and contributed $30,000 to the project. The Town of Louisburg and private donors have given additional funds. The foundation agreed to replace the flat roof of the jail, to rebuild the front porch, and to install new metal windows fabricated to match the badly rusted ones that had been installed during the renovation in 1924-1925.

Considerable progress toward achievement of these goals has been made, and much of the work has been done by local craftsmen. A new roof was installed in the summer of 2016. Concurrently, master carpenter Fleet Benning supervised the construction of a new front porch. Soon thereafter, Charles Toney volunteered his time to repair the front door, which had been vandalized, and to install new door hardware. The North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office conducted paint research that enabled the foundation to select appropriate colors for the front porch and doorway.

Replacement of the windows has been a slow and tedious process. A company that specializes in the restoration of historic windows turned down the project, saying that the windows in the jail were too deteriorated to restore at a reasonable cost. The company’s president recommended that the foundation find a local craftsman to fabricate new ones. Allen Tharrington Jr., who teaches welding at Vance-Granville Community College, came to the rescue. His replacement windows closely match the configuration of the original ones. He has now made all of the windows for the first floor and is working on those for the second floor.

Joseph Spivey of Spivey’s Carpentry in Louisburg agreed to remove existing windows and to install the new ones as they were made. Before this can be done, however, rusted window bars have to be painted by Johnny Aycock’s painters and the windows must be glazed by Perry Glass Company in Henderson, which is donating old plate glass in its warehouse. Some of the masonry surrounding the windows, including a few of the sills, had deteriorated. Repairs have been made by Eugene Yarborough.

Recently, Pernell’s Welding and Fabrication at Rocky Ford tackled the task of restoring the heavy metal door on the rear of the building. The original lock has been repaired, and the door should be in place again by the end of August.

In the coming months, windows on the second floor will be made and installed. It is hoped that the stabilization project will be completed by the end of December. At that time, the Tar River Center for History and Culture Foundation will make a recommendation to the Franklin County Commissioners concerning how the building should be used, if repairs to the interior can be funded. The board welcomes ideas from members of the public. Please contact Maury York at (919) 497-3252 or at myork@louisburg.edu with your suggestions.

Published in The Franklin Times on August 31, 2017.

Maury York is director of the Tar River Center for History and Culture at Louisburg College.