Featured Places for Museums & Historic Sites: Barrow County Museum

Every weekday, Barrow Patch gives you a featured place, one you might know of or one you might not have heard of before.

Operated by the Barrow County Historical Society and housed in the original county jail, the Barrow County Museum offers residents a look at the county's rich history. A reading and research room on the building's second floor contains archives of local newspapers dating back to the county's formation in 1914. A special exhibit honors Richard B. Russell, a late Winder resident who served 38 years in the U.S. Senate. Volunteers who staff the museum offer tours during operating hours. The jail is on the National Register of Historic Places and includes a hanging tower, three original jail cells and hundreds of artifacts donated by the county resident and others. Residents can view the last two bales of cotton grown and ginned in Barrow County, a sculpture created in 1939 by Marian Sanford to display at a post office, photographs and uniforms worn by soldiers during World War I and World War II, a historic barber chair, a corn sheller and an extensive display of early tools and pictures and memorabilia of the county's early schools, churches and other buildings.