Caldwell County, organized in 1848, lost its original log jail in an 1858 fire and kept prisoners in the courthouse basement until 1873, when outlaws' activities led to the need for a strong stone prison. In 1908, county voters approved a 725 to 311 vote for a $25,000.00 bond issue to erect a castellated brick jail. The jailer's quarters occupied the ground floor over a storage area in the basement, and the upper floors contained fifteen concrete-and-steel cells, including one cell rising from the center of the building. Gallows were said to have been removed from the jail in the 1930s.