The Williamson County Jail, located at 105 S. Van Buren St. in Marion, is the former county jail serving Williamson County, Illinois. The Prairie School building served as the county jail from 1913 to 1971. The jail housed prisoners involved with three violent conflicts in the 1920s: the Herrin massacre, the Klan War, and a gang rivalry between the Shelton Brothers Gang and Charles Birger's gang. The building is now a history museum and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.HistoryThe jail was built in 1913 to replace the county's previous jail, which suffered from flooding, overcrowding, and poor living conditions. It soon played a central role in a number of conflicts which engulfed Williamson County in the 1920s, giving the county the nickname "Bloody Williamson". In 1922, the jail housed the men arrested for their role in the Herrin massacre, a deadly riot between union and non-union coal miners. Of the 125 men originally indicted after the massacre, only five were tried before their release; a pro-union jury found these five men not guilty of murder. The riot and trial brought national attention to the county, leading President Warren Harding to refer to the massacre as "shocking", "shameful", and "butchery". A grand jury later indicted 214 defendants, eight of whom were held without bail at the jail; these men were provided with meals and entertainment by union supporters during their time at the jail.
