History with ‘Hud’: Examining the history of the Old Brunswick County Jail
SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — Before today’s modern jail in Brunswick County, there was an Old Jail in Southport which housed prisoners until 1971.
The structure was built in 1904 for a little less than $7,000, after several previous wooden jails were destroyed by hurricanes and fires. Located at the corner of Nash and Rhett Streets, across from the Old Smithville Burying Ground, the two-story building could house up to 11 prisoners as a time from across Brunswick County, but typically only saw around two to three.
Inmates would only stay for short periods of time for minor offenses. The building saw the jailer living on the first floor in two tiny rooms with their family, and inmates in the cells upstairs. Each cell was designed with four bunks, a commode and a wash basin. Despite the hot summers of the Cape Fear, the building never had a working air conditioning while it was a jail.
After decades of housing inmates, a new jail was constructed in 1971 and the Old Jail was turned into the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office until 1978 when all county facilities were moved to the government facility in Bolivia.
When they moved out the structure was used as storage until 1998 when it began being maintained by the Southport Historical Society and has since undergone extensive renovations to restore the piece of history. It was turned into a museum in June of 2005 and celebrated its 20th anniversary as such this summer.
A typical weekend sees around 70 people passing through the museum with more during Southport’s annual Forth of July Festival.
It’s now been more than 50 years since the last inmate was housed inside the jail. But the site remains an important piece of Brunswick County’s past.
Meteorologist Matthew Huddleston (‘Hud’) has always had two major loves – weather and history. While you can watch him talk about weather each morning on WWAY, he looks forward to bringing you a little piece of history each Thursday on WWAY’s website.
To read other History with ‘Hud’ segments, click HERE.
