Built by a contractor in 1852, the jail was enlarged by 1872 with two western bays by Charles Wetzel, an architect from Danville in Montour County. The exterior walls are brick covered with rough-cast stucco and finished with contrasting cut stone quoins. The hallmarks of the Italian Villa style are here in the groupings of round-headed windows, the dentiled eaves supported by brackets, and the three-story hipped-roof square tower. Today the building is a private residence, which suits it well since the design is more like a town house than a jail.