The Bridewell was a municipal prison built in 1768 on the site now occupied by City Hall Park in the Civic Center neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.
| Bridewell | |
|---|---|
 "The Old Bridewell, which formerly stood in the Park, between the City Hall and Broadway" | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Manhattan, New York City |
| Opened | 1768 |
| Demolished | 1838 |
History
editAccording to the Oxford English Dictionary, Bridewell is a common English noun referred both to a gaol in which prisoners were held, or a workhouse to which they were confined. The term was used for a number of jails in the Thirteen Colonies.
Construction on the New York City Bridewell began in 1768, although the building was not completed until after the end of the American Revolutionary War.[1] Even though it was incomplete, the British used the jail to house prisoners of war during the Revolutionary War.[2] Prior to British control of New York, the jail in 1776 housed Thomas Hickey prior to his execution in the plot to assassinate George Washington.
It stood until it was replaced by the Tombs in 1838; some of the dressed stone blocks from the Bridewell were used to construct The Tombs.[3][4]
References
edit- ^ Black, George Ashton (1897). The History of Municipal Ownership of Land on Manhattan Island. Columbia University Press. p. 31.
- ^ Wright, Otis Olney, ed. (1917). History of Swansea, Massachusetts, 1667-1917. Town of Swansea. p. 54. OCLC 1018149266. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ^ "Four Walls, City Hall Park". forgotten-ny.com. Forgotten New York. 10 June 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
- ^ Carrott, Richard G., The Egyptian Revival: Its Sources, Monuments, and Meaning, 1808–1858, University of California Press, 1978 ISBN 0-520-03324-8 p.165
40°42′50″N 74°00′22″W / 40.71380°N 74.0062°W
