Bradford County Jail

In 1871, a new jail was needed for Bradford County, because the previous jail was located in the basement of the courthouse. It was constructed from 1871 to 1873. The land was purchased from the widow of Dr. E.H. Manson, after the house on the property burned down in a fire. The new jail was designed by Avery Frink, the architect of the Susquehanna County jail. The county commissioners decided to build the jail themselves, under the supervision of Frink, instead of contracting work. Construction of the massive stone building began in 1871 and was finally completed two years later in 1873. m The first prisoners were moved in on August 14, 1873. The front section of the building was the home of sheriff J. Monroe Smith and his family. During the jails 118-year operation, it housed a variety of prisoners, both male and female. After the jail was determined in 1991 to be in a rapidly deteriorating state, the county decided that a new, larger, and more modern jail would be built.