Historic Lawrenceville Jail
Built in 1832 and used for over a century, this squat concrete jail still stands off Lawrenceville's courthouse square. In 1848 it held Elleck, an enslaved man who turned himself in after killing his enslaver, Colonel James Austin, in what he called self-defense.
Convicted in one of only two trials of enslaved men ever held in Gwinnett County, he was sentenced to hang. Chained to the floor by his wrists and ankles, he reportedly chipped at the cell wall with a metal slat and sang a mournful song for his beloved Betsy before the gallows that November.
Today tour-goers report a second voice joining theirs as they sing in his cell, along with cold spots and tugged clothing, while a shallow groove worn into the concrete still marks his desperate bid for freedom.
📍 Just west of the historic courthouse square, off an alley near McCray's Tavern, downtown Lawrenceville, GA, Lawrenceville, GA · Get directions