Employing a formidable Gothic Revival castellated style, thought best to impress the wayward with its awesome power, this prison is a condensed version of the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia by the architect's father, John Haviland. A three-story central watch tower above the entrance is flanked by two-story-high polygonal bays. The one-story side wings of the stone edifice are greatly foreshortened compared to those of the Philadelphia prison. The rear addition in the 1980s brought the prison into the twentieth century. A second golden-colored cement block addition on the west elevation is more recent.