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Carthage Jail

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Verified 29 May 2026
Fresh · 1d ago

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Photograph of Carthage Jail

Gallery

From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).

  • 4. Carthage Jail & Visitor Center (307 Walnut St., Carthage, Illinois) on the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail (2004) (220e371c-2fbf-41e0-b70a-6338c65ab3c6).JPG

    Photo by NPS Staff (Photo Credit: NPS) via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Carthage Jail - panoramio.jpg

    Photo by runt35 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

  • Carthage jail door.jpg

    Photo by Bhludzin at English Wikipedia via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Carthage Jail from southwest.jpg

    Photo by Nyttend via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • CarthageJail1885.jpg

    Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • JohnTaylorPocketWatch.jpg

    Photo by Epachamo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

  • Assassination of Joseph Smith.jpg

    Photo by Unknown authorUnknown author via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

  • Exterior of Carthage Jail by C.C.A. Christensen.png

    Photo by C. C. A. Christensen via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Background

Carthage Jail is a historic building in Carthage, Illinois, listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). It was built in 1839 and is best known as the location of the 1844 killing of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, and his brother Hyrum, by a mob of approximately 84 men. It was added to the NRHP in 1973 and is operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) as a historic site with an adjacent visitors' center.

Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.

Capacity

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Current population

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Occupancy

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Year opened

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Operational

Facility profile

Operator

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Population held

Mixed/unknown

Opened

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Region

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Security level

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Death-row facility

No

Conditions

No conditions summary available yet.

Visiting

No visiting information available.

Mailing

No mailing information available.

Practical info

Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.

Known issues

No major issues documented in our database.

Contact & address

No public contact details available.

Conditions Risk Score

Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated

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Insufficient data
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Data completeness

16%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources