Black and White Photographs of the Old Tunica Jail, Built 1894 and Now in Ruins

Old Tunica Jail stands as a grim and foreboding reminder of historic prisons

Built in 1894, the old red-brick Tunica County Jail is a Romanesque Revival building that stands behind the county courthouse in downtown Tunica, Mississippi. It was listed as part of the Tunica Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

Tunica is a small city approximately 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. Located in the Mississippi Delta region, known for its deep rich soil due to eons of Mississippi River foods, the area has been traditionally agricultural.

The 1894 jail was a replacement of a previous jail with the same architectural style which had been destroyed by fire, built at a cost of $10,299.

The jail once had a porch with a gallows, which was last used in 1928.

And according to an old sign, there's still a visible patch in the bricks on one side of the building from an escape in the 1930s where the escapee was returned to jail thanks to the employment of baying hounds.

The Old Tunica County Jail in 1970, courtesy of a sign photographed on the property.

The old Tunica County Jail, seen in 2006, courtesy of the National Register of Historic Places nomination form.

Black and white photographs of the old Tunica County Jail

Black and white photograph of the front door with bars leading inside the abandoned 1894 jail in Tunica, Mississippi. Click to buy a print.

Peeling Paint Inside an Abandoned Jail - Black and White Photograph by Keith Dotson. Buy a fine art print here.

Inside an Abandoned Southern Jail. Black and White Photograph by Keith Dotson. Buy a fine art print here.

Window of the Abandoned Old Tunica Jail. Black and White Photograph by Keith Dotson. Buy a print here.

Abandoned Tunica Jail Engulfed with Vines. Black and White Photograph by Keith Dotson. Click here to buy a fine art print.

Patch of Broken Plaster Inside an Abandoned Building. Black and White Photograph by Keith Dotson. Buy a museum quality art print here.

Interior of an Abandoned Southern Jail. Black and White Photograph by Keith Dotson. Buy a print here.