Recently in prisons Category

One of the most awesome, and chilling, buildings I have ever visited is the former Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. It was opened in 1829 and closed in 1971.
After over 20 years in limbo it opened as a museum with guided tours in the mid-1990s. As funds are available, more and more of its vast expanse is being maintained and restored.

Click here for Eastern State Penitentiary web site with extensive history and tour information.

During much of the prison's history, each inmate was kept in solitary confinement, not as an extraordinary punishment, but with the idea that the time alone would give the prisoner time to reflect on their crime and become pentitent.

Being in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, York County criminals who were convicted of any major crimes were sent to Eastern. The records of the Penitentiary are part of the collection of the Pennsylvania State Archives. A friend shared some information from those records, which led to my York Sunday News column, repeated below, on the tragedy of a young York County woman led astray.

It seems that I can't get away from crime and punishment, York County style.

I was checking the files at York County Heritage Trust today to see if I could find out what was carved on the tablet above the door of 1853 York County Prison, which I wrote about in my recent post. I didn't find that information yet, but I did find a copy of the item below from the September 7, 1764 Maryland Gazette.

Click here for the previous post.

1850s York County Prison

Here we were with a nice new jail that resembled a castle and someone had the nerve to deface the tablet over the entrance. When you look at the photo above you wonder how in the world anyone could get to it unnoticed. The arched entrance is quite high and very visible from the street and from the railroad track. The tablet must be the light colored rectangle above the arch.

The commissioners certainly took offense, offering a substantial reward and threatening to throw the book at the perpetrators, as reported in the Democratic Press of September 5, 1854.

Lewis Miller drawing of York jail on George Street

York County has had four prisons in its nearly 260 year history. The present one certainly seems to be the most secure. But reading the newspaper accounts of past jailbreaks, you have to wonder if anybody was watching.

At least in the 1857 Christmas night jailbreak the prisoners had to hack through a wall of the almost-new second jail on Chestnut Street. Click here to read about that escape.

In 1829, when the jail was on the northeast corner of George and King Streets, it was apparently much easier. The May 26, 1829 York Recorder tells the story:

William Wagner Drawing of 1830 York County Courthouse.

I'm certainly not advocating crime, but when you think of it, salaries for all those policemen, jailers, judges, and attorneys do add to the economy. Building and upkeep of the prisons and courthouses, feeding the prisoners, and all the other fees associated with the justice system also supply work for a lot of people.

I haven't checked the probably astronomical costs today, but take a look at the crime and court related expenditures below from the 1825-1826 York County budget report, as published in the York Recorder. They make up quite a chunk of the costs for that year.

1908 York County Prison

The former York County Jail has stood empty for many years. Every now and then someone suggests a new use for the striking five story brick building, but nothing seems to come of it.

The original stone castle-like prison, built in the 1850s had become crowded and inadequate.

Click here to read my previous post on the Christmas Prison Break from the old not-so-secure prison.

Construction on the monumental multi-story brick addition, which still stands, was in process during the winter of 1908. A fire, caused by construction equipment, caused the locked-up prisoners much anxiety.

The Gazette reports that during the 1908 fire:

York County Prison, built 1853

The December 29, 1857 Gazette reported a Christmas night prison excape at the York County jail, which had been built only four years before. The escapees of 150 years ago used a method similar to that used just recently. The account follows below:

"PRISONERS ESCAPED AND RECAPTURED.

On the night of the 25th inst., two prisoners, names William Cook and James A. Quinland, made their escape from our new jail in a most adroit and skillful manner. They both, it appears, occupied the same cell on the second floor of the prison and were locked up, as usual, at about 5 o'clock in the evening.