In 1884, overcrowding at the county jail led to the selection of a grassy field on Pine Street for a new Bucks County prison. Groundbreaking took place on April 21, 1884. Stone from the former jail at Main and Court Street in Doylestown was dismantled and reused in the new construction. Plans by architect Addison Hutton of Philadelphia called for an expanded prison facility that included a three-story warden's house in the popular late 19th-century Gothic style. Directly behind the warden's house stood the guard house, which served as a control center for transferring prisoners into the jail. This building was connected to 58 cells, each designed for one person and measuring eighteen feet long, eight feet wide, and twelve feet high. The overall design concept was modeled after the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia.