Mercer County Jail

After the log jail and court house on the north side of the square had served its day, it was succeeded by the “Old Stone Jail." which stood back of the former building and facing on the other Street. It was constructed of heavy stone and iron, two stories high, and a heavy wall eighteen feet high extended around the lot. For half a century it served its gloomy purposes of confinement, and then passed into private ownership, and became first a hotel and is now a private residence. The brick and stone jail on the south side of the diamond, which was completed in 1869 at a cost of $67,000, was at that time a model jail building and one of the best in the state, and is yet a handsome public building and well adapted to the needs of the county.