Constructed in 1948, the Old Wakulla County Jail is a concrete and stucco Art Deco building designed by James A. Stripling and built by the S.J. Curry Company, which also constructed the nearby Wakulla County Courthouse. From 1949 to 1973, it served as the county jail and the jailer's residence, with a three-bedroom home on the first floor, the jailer's office in the front room on the east side, and stairs through the east door leading to jail cells on the second story. R.E. Whaley was the first jailer, and his wife, Geraldine, worked as police dispatcher, cook, and laundry person, and the couple lived there until 1972, when Whaley retired and John Henry Taylor became jailer. After a new jail was built in 1973, the building housed various county offices until 1999. Although slated for demolition in 1997, it was preserved through the efforts of the Wakulla County Historical Society, and in 1999 the Wakulla County Board of County Commissioners agreed to lease it to the society for use as a museum and archives.