In 1893 two houses occupied Mill Block. This area was vacant until the jail, Mason County's third, was erected in 1894. Mrs. Rick, who operated a boarding house on the west end of the block, was consulted to see if she had any objections to the jail being built so close to her. She asked that there be a fenced lot and a 25-foot alley between the jail and her property.

She also required that the public outhouse on the courthouse grounds be removed. The jail, built in a modified Romanesque Revival style, had living quarters for the sheriff on the first floor and cells on the second floor. The early jail builders did their job well; the jail still meets minimum state standards and is used to house prisoners on the occasions when this is necessary.