Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: The Old Nassau County Jail has occupied several buildings on this site from 1878 through 1978. In 1868, the Nassau County Board of County Commissioners began the process of creating a stand-alone jail, and in 1871, the deed for this property was signed by former Senator David Yulee. Built in 1878, the first jailhouse started as a single-story, wood-frame structure, and was expanded to two stories by 1884. A new jail building was constructed on this site circa 1891, but was replaced in 1938 with this two-story masonry building. Designed in the Moderne style, it featured improved jail cells, plumbing, and cots. A 1954 addition nearly doubled the jail’s size, and included a desk clerk’s office, guest rooms, lockers, and showers. Four cells and two day-rooms for inmates were located on the first floor, and six cells on the second. There were separate areas for men and women, and for black and white inmates during segregation. In 1978, a new Nassau County jail was built in Yulee, and the county deeded this building to an early version of the Amelia Island Museum of History the following year. The building was extensively renovated in 2003 and 2007, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.