Old Knox County Jail

Built in 1874 across the street from Knox College, the old Knox County Jail was purchased by the college and today houses its Center for Global Studies, including the Freedom Station exhibit on Knox and Galesburg's real Underground Railroad history. Part of the building still looks much as it did when it held prisoners. Local legend holds that an inmate who once escaped, was recaptured, and later died by suicide in his second-floor cell still lingers there — staff and visitors describe an overwhelming sense of dread in that part of the building, along with unexplained knocking sounds.