A two-story square measuring 40 feet (12 m) on each side, it contained a first-story courtroom with office space for county government on the second story.

[2]: 58 Periodically through the 1860s and 1870s, county officials tried to find money to erect a new courthouse, but all attempts proved abortive until 1879, when $70,000 was appropriated and a special tax levied on real and personal property countywide.

The original plans called for it to measure 110 by 76 feet (34 m × 23 m), with county offices placed on the first floor and court-related rooms on the second.

[2]: 58  Its walls are primarily brick with a stone foundation, pierced by pairs of windows and topped with a mansard roof atop a tower on each of the building's corners.

At the center, above the dome, stands a tower that employs elements used elsewhere, including stonework, pilasters below pediments, and a mansard roof.

Alike is it creditable to the foresight and energy of the men who inaugurated its construction; and it will remain as a monument to their enterprise years after they have passed away.