[2] When the property for the reformatory was acquired by the State of Iowa in 1872 it included 61 acres (25 ha) of farmland.

Before then the prisoners maintained a vegetable garden within the walls, and they raised sixty-five hogs.

The state bought 80.31 acres (32.50 ha) of land in 1904 for farming operations and built a hog house and a stone barn, both are no longer extant.

The influence of the style is found in the "heavy massing, texture of the stone, and the window, door, and corner treatments.

This article about a property in Jones County, Iowa on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub.