Kosciusko County’s third county jail, including a sheriff’s residence, was built in 1870 by Richard Epperson. Chicago architect George O. Garnsey designed it in Neo-Gothic style. Rusticated stonework and turrets gave it the appearance of a small castle to convey security and strength. The two-story jail stood behind the sheriff’s three-story residence. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The jail closed, and the building was leased to the Kosciusko County Historical Society for the first county museum in 1982. County jails were first established in 1792 under the laws of the Northwest Territory and continued under the laws of the Indiana Territory and the state constitutions of 1816 and 1851.