Better Hometown Eatonton (BHTE, Inc.) To Restore Old Jail.

With proposed grant funding and matching funds from Putnam County, Better Hometown Eatonton has undertaken a project to restore a dilapidated old County Jail and turn it into a Law Enforcement Museum. Along with the restoration of the building is a plan to restore at least part of the surrounding original garden. This garden was the much admired handiwork of the wife of the local Sheriff Walton (in office from 1953 – 1969). Now a blacktop eyesore, it is hoped the garden will be restored back to some of its former glory.

The Old County Jail is a white brick building on Marion Street in Eatonton, Putnam County. The original building was constructed in 1939, and minor additions made around 1954.

The longest tenant of the jail was Sheriff Walton and his family. His three daughters are still alive today and supplied much of the background and photographs for the restoration. It was common at that time for the Sheriff to live on the ground floor with the upper floor reserved for prisoners.

The Jail was little used from 1976 on and fell into complete disuse in the mid 1980’s. It has been in danger of demolition as a hazard or simply from neglect on several occasions. In 2001, the Eatonton Putnam Historical Society obtained a number of grants and repaired the leaking roof and rescued the old county records that were slowly deteriorating from water damage. The plans to make it into a county records storage facility did not materialize as other options were pursued.

In 2005, Better Hometown Eatonton persuaded the county to lease the building to them so it could be restored back to it’s 1950’s  state. BHTE plans to make the building into a tourist attraction as a Law enforcement museum. The original jail cells are mostly intact, although somewhat rusty, and will be a feature of the museum.