About This Location
The Historic Licking County Jail is an imposing Richardsonian Romanesque structure designed by architect J. W. Yost and opened in 1889. Built of pink sandstone quarried near Millersburg, the castle-like building housed both the sheriff's family in its front quarters and prisoners in 32 cells in the rear. The jail remained operational until 1987 and is linked to at least 22 confirmed deaths, including three sheriffs and 19 inmates.
The Ghost Story
The jail's most dramatic historical event was the lynching of detective Carl Etherington in 1909. Etherington, an Anti-Saloon League detective, shot a local saloon owner in self-defense and was taken to the jail for protection. A mob stormed the building, dragged him out, and hanged him from a telephone pole on the courthouse square - 58 participants were later indicted. His spirit and those of other violent deaths echo through the building. The "dungeon" area is a paranormal hotspot where visitors are touched, have their clothes tugged, and have witnessed heavy chairs thrown across rooms by invisible forces. Full apparitions have been seen, and bone-chilling EVP recordings capture disembodied voices, chanting, and cell doors slamming. Ghost Adventures featured the jail in 2014, bringing national attention to this actively haunted location. The building now hosts ghost hunts and the seasonal Jail of Terror haunted attraction.
