Sixty miles southwest of Atlanta, the old Meriwether County jail, a 119-year-old relic of narrow, ag

(4 Jun 2015) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLY

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Greenville, Georgia - June 3, 2015
1. Various of town, businesses
2. Various of exterior of old jail
3. Various of interior of old jail, renovated living quarters
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mariea Gosdin, Owner of Former Jail:
"This is the old jail. It had living quarters in it where the sheriff used to live and his family. Half of it's a house, half of it's a jail. And, they used it as a jail up until 1985."
5. Medium of underground hallway, prison bars
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Mariea Gosdin, Owner of Former Jail:
"I've heard of people being hanged in here in the cells with a little help from the deputies, with a little help from their fellow inmates. I've had ghost hunters come in here screaming and talking of rape and murder and blood."
7. Close of prison bars
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Mariea Gosdin, Greenville, Owner of Former Jail:
"There's a big iron hook hanging off a big beam on the ceiling, that's where they tied the noose to. But, apparently, if you went up those stairs you didn't come back down."
9. Wide of prison cell wall
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Mariea Gosdin, Owner of Former Jail:
"Hopefully by the end of the summer, we'll be finished. And, I plan on making the living quarters of the house my home. The rest of the building, eventually — I'm going to call it phase two — I'd like to see the cells sand blasted and painted and I want it to be open to the public."
11. Close of prison bed
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Mariea Gosdin, Owner of Former Jail:
"Even though I think some dark things happened here, I think it's full of life and I think it was full of life. And, the people that I remembered that lived here were full of life. And, that's what I see for it in the future. I see it being full of life and a gathering place for family and friends."
13. Various of underground cell, prison bars
14. Various of prison bars, hallways
15. Various of hanging tower, including stairs, viewing room, hook and trap door
16. Various of windows, exterior of old jail, renovated living quarters
STORYLINE:
Ghost hunters tell stories of gruesome rapes. Former guards remember an underground dungeon. A crowd is said to have gathered to witness the hanging of a prisoner.
So is the lore of the old Meriwether County jail 60 miles southwest of Atlanta, a 119-year-old relic that is being renovated into a home and museum.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Mariea Gosdin, 59, said she was the sole bidder on the property when the Board of Commissioners listed it for sale. In 2009, she paid $5,000 for it.
"They said it was going to cost more than that to tear it down. Even though I think some dark things happened here, I think it's full of life," Gosdin said. "That's what I see for it in the future — a gathering place for family and friends."
The jail, which fell into disrepair after it closed in the mid-1980s, is a network of narrow, aged hallways and small, worn prison cells. Its living quarters were home to the county sheriff and his family.
"I was just drawn to it. There is nothing fancy about it. It was built back in a time when people made do with what they had," Gosdin said. "I want to make do with what I have. I don't want it to be fancy. I want to keep it back in the era of when it was built."
Gosdin, who plans to move into the living quarters this summer, said she had spent $100,000 to renovate her new home.
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