The prison, west of Downtown Raleigh, is on 29 acres (12 ha) of land and is bounded by a double wire fence with a razor ribbon on top.

The Department of Public Safety website describes the original building as "castle-like.

"[1] Funding for the Central Prison was authorized during the Reconstruction era by the North Carolina General Assembly of 1868–1869.

An acute care infirmary hospital with wards for 86 patients, operating rooms, X-ray laboratories, and a pharmacy opened in the 1960s.

The $8.6 million second phase included a three-story working resident building, which had 192 single cells for inmates assigned to jobs within the boundaries of the prison.