Fentress County “Ye Ole Jail” was not on our list of places to visit mainly because we knew nothing about it. We went to the Fentress County Chamber of Commerce to get information on the area. What we walked into was a piece of Tennessee history again with a Louisiana connection.Fentress County was established in 1823. In 1825, the first sheriff was designated and served until 1828. The county’s first jail was in operation until after the Civil War. At that time, the building was declared unfit to house prisoners. In 1899 a new jail was built and operated until 1976. Today the “new jail” is known as “Ye Ole Jail Historic Museum”. Historical artifacts are housed in the building along with some original jail cells.

Fentress County Jail held many prisoners, one very famous. In the 1870s one of the James – Younger Gang was captured by Sheriff J. C. Taylor and held in the Fentress County Jail. Cole Younger is said to have spent time in the Fentress County Jail. We don’t know if this is factual but it is an interesting bit of history.

And now to the Louisiana connection. The artifacts range from the early days of Fentress County to the present. Jamestown is home to Astronaut Roger K. Crouch, Ph.D. He was the Payload Specialist on the eighty-fifth flight of the Space Shuttle. The flight launched on July 1, 1997 and landed on July 17, 1997. The commander of the flight was Lt. Colonel James D. Halsell, Jr. USAF of West Monroe, Louisiana.

We left with places to visit, things to do and the realization no matter where we travel we always seem to find connections back to Louisiana.