Pickens County Courthouse
Carrollton, US
The Pickens County Courthouse in the county seat of Carrollton, Alabama is the courthouse for Pickens County, Alabama. Built in 1877–1878 as the third courthouse in the city, it is noted for a ghostly image that can be seen in one of its garret windows. This is claimed to be the face of freedman Hen
ry Wells from 1878. According to a common version of the myth, Wells was arrested in January 1878 on suspicion of burglary and arson, and lynched by a white mob soon after his arrest. He was alleged to have burned down the second courthouse in 1876 (built to replace one destroyed in 1865 by Union forces during the Civil War). Accounts in the story do not conform to historic facts; for instance, the windows were not installed until February through March 1878, so they could not contain his image. This period was one of the continuing social and racial tensions. In 1877, the federal government ended Reconstruction and withdrew its troops from the South. White Democrats had regained control of state legislatures and passed measures to impose white supremacy. Wells was arrested in January 1878 and charged with the courthouse burning two years before. A local newspaper reported that Wells died...
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- Old Jail (Gordo, Alabama) prison · 19 km away