The Cherokee National Jail or Cherokee National Penitentiary (Cherokee: Ꮳꮃꭹ Ꭼꮎꮥꮎ Ꮧꮣꮝꮪꭹ) was built in 1874 as part of a governmental complex for the Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. It served the Cherokee Nation until it was sold to Cherokee County, Oklahoma, which used it as a jail into the 1970s.[3]
The prison, as built in 1874 for $6000, was a two-story building with a basement. The sandstone structure measures 48 feet (15 m) by 35 feet (11 m). The second floor has been removed and replaced with a flat roof. There are two sandstone porches on the main level, front and back, with hipped roofs.[3][4] The Cherokee National Jail was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 28, 1974.[1] The jail is now a museum, named the Cherokee National Prison Museum.[5][6]
