Many arrested under Jim Crow laws; leased from the state to build WNC Railroad. Many died, including 19 who drowned near Cowee Tunnel, 1882.
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Introduced bill, 1885, for industrial school, now N.C. State University. Speaker of House, 1889; prison reformer. Taught at academy here.
State prison site since 1869. Original buildings completed in 1884. First supt., W. J. Hicks. New facility finished 1983.
State prison farm since 1892. Antebellum plantation owned by Johnston family. Name predates 1713. Two miles N.E.
A postcard depicted the “Black Men’s Cell Block” at Central Prison ca. 1900-1915. Image from N.C. Museum of History