Franklin County Historic Jail Museum, Illinois, United States
4.5 (20 reviews) Spent 1-2 hours Ranking #2 in Benton Speciality Museums • History Museums
Worth The Time To See
This is a very cool historic jail/museum in Benton Illinois. It’s five dollars to get in and is self-guided. Back in the day if used to be part house, part jail. It’s really cool the way you could see how the sheriff lived in the front part with his family and the prisoners lived in the rear. There’s lots of cool things to see in this museum including a George Harrison exhibit when he was first interviewed on the radio, the first time in the United States and some other cool Civil War related items as well. Very interesting story about the southern gangster Charlie Birger as well. Well worth the time to visit. Plan about at least an hour.
Address
403 W Main St, Benton, IL 62812-1363
Mobile
Website
http://www.historicjail.com
Current local date and time now
Monday, May 13, 2024, 1:31
User Ratings
4.5 based on (20 reviews)
Reviews
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4Rags357 5:00 PM Oct 2, 2018
Nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to stay here.
Recently had the chance to tour the museum. After a day of fishing, I stopped by before driving back to Chicago. It was very interesting to hear the criminal histories, but also to learn of the area's connections to famous people as well. If you've got an hour or so to spare, stop by, take a look around, and be thankful that you don't have to call it home.
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4jlcarter1975 5:00 PM Mar 14, 2021
Closed due to covid
The inside was not open in an effort to reduce the spread of the virus. There were some interesting things to see outside including some German WWII equipment, a civil war monument, and where the last hanging in IL took place.
