Bristol County Jail

Last updated

Bristol County Jail
Bristol Historical and Preservation Society, Rhode Island.jpg
USA Rhode Island location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Bristol, Rhode Island
Coordinates 41°40′10″N71°16′32″W / 41.66944°N 71.27556°W / 41.66944; -71.27556
Built1828
Part of Bristol Waterfront Historic District (ID75000053)
NRHP reference No. 73000048 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 24, 1973
Designated CPMarch 18, 1975

Bristol County Jail is a historic jail at 48 Court Street in Bristol, Rhode Island, and home to the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society.

Contents

The jail was built on the site of a previous jail house dating to 1792 and salvaged materials were used extensively in the new construction. The present Bristol County Jail consists of a 36.5-foot-wide (11.1 m) by 46.4-foot-long (14.1 m) center hallway in a 2+12-story stone structure topped with a gable roof. The jail accommodated both the inmates and the jailer's family. The first floor is believed to have been the family's parlor, dining room and kitchen on the west side and the east side the jailer's reception room, office and storage room. The second floor housed the family's bedrooms and the inmates' cells, with low, medium and maximum security cells. The maximum security cells in the southeast portion of the jail had no heat, light or sanitary facilities and were enclosed by 2-foot (0.61 m) exterior stone walls and built atop thick floor timbers supported by 2-foot-thick (0.61 m) solid brick wall and further supported by a fieldstone wall from the cellar.

In 1859, a rectangular 20-foot-wide (6.1 m) by 43.2-foot-long (13.2 m) two-story rear addition was added to common southeast wall of the jail. Made of cut granite blocks and topped with a flat roof, the addition added five cells on each of its two levels. The jail was discontinued by the State of Rhode Island in June 1957 and the Bristol Historical Society (later the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society) leased the property following a fire at the Rogers Free Library. The Bristol Historical Society removed partitions in the first floor and added new access points as part of its renovations, including the removal of the internal east chimney. However, the building retains much of its unaltered interior features, and the jail cells are used by the Society as a public exhibit. The Bristol County Jail was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and currently serves as the Historical Society headquarters.

Design

The current Bristol County Jail was constructed in 1828 to replace a previous jail erected on the same site in 1792. The new structure was a 36.5-foot-wide (11.1 m) by 46.4-foot-long (14.1 m)2+12-story stone structure topped with a gable roof. [2] According to the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society the stone came from the ballast of Bristol ships. [3] Material from the original jail was used in the new structure, including the clapboards which were split and reused as laths. [2] The new jail and was constructed for a cost of $3,900. [2] The front facade is five bays wide and faces north on Court Street. The facade originally featured a recessed Greek Revival entrance that was replaced with a newer door and extended by a Victorian hood. At the time of its National Register of Historic Places nomination in 1973, all the windows except one on the second story were changed from the twelve-over-eight and twelve-over twelve sashes to the two-over-two Victorian sash. In 1959, the Bristol Historical Society removed the internal east chimney on the first floor as part of renovations. [2]

The 1828 construction features a central hall with three rooms on the east and west sides of roughly symmetrical construction with chimneys at the intersection of the front and middle rooms. The first floor chimneys were flanked by doors allowing access to the other rooms and storage on the other side. The layout and usage of the jail is not known for certain, but it is believed that the rooms to the west were used by the jailer and his family. The first room as a parlor, the middle as the dining room and the rear room as the kitchen. As part of the renovations in 1959, the Society changed the parlor to a research room, the dining room into a library and added a door to the stairway from the kitchen. [2] The front research room and library retain the original fireplaces, pine floorboards and closets, but the connecting passage between the two rooms were changed to a bathroom. The east side of the jail is believed to have been used by the jailer for his occupational duties, with the front room as a public reception room and the middle room as his office. The rear room in the back may have been used for record or other storage. After leasing the property, the Society removed the partitions in the rooms that separated the rooms from each other. [2]

The second floor is arranged differently from the first floor, with the rooms above the front parlor and reception room believed to have been the bedroom for the jailer and his family. The west room is described as "quite elegant in its simplicity with its original wainscot and cornice of run mouldings". [2] The middle room may have been a low-security cell; evidence of this comes from the two windows which have iron bar markings in the granite sills. Also, the NRHP nomination states that the room, 13.2 feet (4.0 m) wide by 20.6 feet (6.3 m) long, may have been divided into two cells. [2] The rear allows access to a small hallway and to the attic, but this was described as being a later modification. [2]

The east front bedroom is divided in two with a partition, giving the eastern side of the building four rooms on the second floor, with the two middle rooms being used as medium-security cells. The maximum security cells were located in the back of the building, in the south-east corner. These cells are constructed of wood and walled in by stone walls and iron doors. The maximum security cells had no heat, light or bathrooms; air was only able to flow into the room through a slit in the stone wall and a peep hole in the iron door. Underneath the cells were two courses of 8 inches (0.20 m) by 8 inches (0.20 m) timbers superimposed on top of one another. These timbers are believed to have been sourced from the original 1792 jail. The timbers are supported by a 24-inch-thick (0.61 m) brick wall and by a fieldstone wall in the cellar. The exterior stone walls are 21 inches (0.53 m) thick on the front and west exterior, but are 24 inches (0.61 m) for the walls that support the maximum security cells. As part of the alterations made by the Society, the solid brick wall was removed and is now supported by steel beams. [2]

The third floor is a single, unpartitioned room that was likely used for storage. The cellar of the jail has a chimney on the west that has several ovens, including a beehive oven, and was not partitioned except for the fieldstone foundation required to support the cells in the southeast corner. [2]

In 1859, a rectangular 20-foot-wide (6.1 m) by 43.2-foot-long (13.2 m) two-story rear addition was added to the jail. Made of cut granite blocks and topped with a flat roof, the addition added five cells on each level and two hallways with a cast iron staircase on the left hand side. The addition was not in perfect alignment with the original common wall, and protrudes east. Access is gained from the original center hallway and heading outside to the additions' front door, a second access point from within the original building is a steel door on the common wall. The inside of the new cell block has a wood plank corridor and iron railings with tall windows, opposite the cells, that face south. [2]

Bristol Historical and Preservation Society

Founded in 1936, the Bristol Historical Society is committed to saving, collecting, and promoting historical research and interest in southern New England, with a specific focus on the town of Bristol. Originally, the Bristol Historical Society was located in the Rogers Free Library, but a fire destroyed a part of the collections on July 27, 1957. [3] [4] The jail, which had been abandoned by the state in June of the same year, was selected by the Society as its new home and leased from the state. [2] [3] In 1972, the Bristol Historical Society was renamed to the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society to reflect its preservation interests. In 1973, the Society purchased the Bristol County Jail from the state. The Society restored the jail cells through a matching grant from the National Park Service and opened the cells as a public exhibit. [3]

Importance

The Bristol County Jail was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The jail is significant as a relatively unaltered historic jail that was important to the 18th-century Bristol County. It is also significant in that it currently serves as the home of the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society. The Society also houses its library and collections in the jail and runs a small museum shop from the building. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph F. Glidden House</span> Historic house in Illinois, United States

The Joseph F. Glidden House is located in the United States in the DeKalb County, Illinois city of DeKalb. It was the home to the famed inventor of barbed wire Joseph Glidden. The barn, still located on the property near several commercial buildings, is said to be where Glidden perfected his improved version of barbed wire which would eventually transform him into a successful entrepreneur. The Glidden House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The home was designed by another barbed wire patent holder in DeKalb, Jacob Haish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Todd County Courthouse (Minnesota)</span> Building

The Todd County Courthouse is the seat of government for Todd County in Long Prairie, Minnesota, United States. The hilltop courthouse was built in 1883 and is fronted by a street-level stone entryway and retaining wall constructed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration. Additional modern buildings are set into the hill to the side and rear of the courthouse. To the southwest stood a residence for the sheriff with an attached jailhouse, built in 1900. They were extant in 1985 when the complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Todd County Courthouse, Sheriff's House, and Jail, but have been demolished since. The property was listed for having state-level significance in the themes of architecture and politics/government. It was nominated for being a good example of an Italianate public building and a long-serving home of the county government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Stone House (Washington, D.C.)</span> United States historic place

The Old Stone House is one of the oldest structures in Washington, D.C. The house is also the last pre-revolutionary colonial building in Washington, D.C. Built in 1765, Old Stone House is located at 3051 M Street, Northwest in the city's Georgetown neighborhood. Sentimental local folklore preserved the Old Stone House from being demolished, unlike many colonial homes in the area that were replaced by redevelopment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old York Gaol</span> United States historic place

The Old York Gaol is a former colonial prison at Lindsay Road and Main Street in York, Maine. Its oldest portion dating to about 1720, it is one of the oldest prison buildings in the United States, and one of the oldest public buildings in the state of Maine. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968. It is owned by the Museums of Old York and is open for tours between May and October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debtors' Prison (Accomac, Virginia)</span> United States historic place

The Debtors' Prison is a historic debtors' prison in Accomac, Virginia. Constructed in 1783 as a house for the Accomack County jailer, it is the oldest public structure in the county. It was converted to use as a debtors' prison in 1824, which purpose it served until 1849. The prison was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1976; along with structures in Worsham and Tappahannock, both in Virginia as well, it is one of only three debtors' prisons in the country on the National Register.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House at 322 Albany Avenue</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The house at 322 Albany Avenue, in Kingston, New York, United States, is a stone building dating to the early 19th century. In the 1840s it was renovated in the Greek Revival architectural style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Le Roy House and Union Free School</span> Historic buildings in New York, United States

The Le Roy House and Union Free School are located on East Main Street in Le Roy, New York, United States. The house is a stucco-faced stone building in the Greek Revival architectural style. It was originally a land office, expanded in two stages during the 19th century by its builder, Jacob Le Roy, an early settler for whom the village is named. In the rear of the property is the village's first schoolhouse, a stone building from the end of the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Hogeboom House</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Stephen Hogeboom House is located on NY 23B in Claverack, New York, United States. It is a frame Georgian-style house built in the late 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newcomb–Brown Estate</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Newcomb–Brown Estate is located at the junction of the US 44 highway and Brown Road in Pleasant Valley, New York, United States. It is a brick structure built in the 18th century just before the Revolution and modified slightly by later owners but generally intact. Its basic Georgian style shows some influences of the early Dutch settlers of the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. R. Stevens House</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The H.R. Stevens House is located on Congers Road in the New City section of the Town of Clarkstown, New York, United States. It is a stone house dating to the late 18th century. In the early 19th century, it was expanded with some wood frame upper stories added later. The interior was also renovated over the course of the century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Salyer House</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Edward Salyer House is located on South Middletown Road in Pearl River, New York, United States. It is a wood frame house built in the 1760s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butterfield Cobblestone House</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Butterfield Cobblestone House is on Bennett Corners Road in the Town of Clarendon, New York, United States, south of the village of Holley. It is a cobblestone structure from the mid-19th century built in the Greek Revival architectural style by a wealthy local farmer to house his large family. Three generations of his descendants would run the farm over the next 80 years. Later owners would make some renovations to the interior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Franklin Gates House</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Benjamin Franklin Gates House is an historic home and farm complex located on Lee Road in Barre, New York, United States. It is centered on a Greek Revival house built in the 1830s using the unusual stacked-plank structural system. The accompanying barn and privy are also included in the listing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac Young House</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Isaac Young House is an historic wood frame house on Pinesbridge Road in New Castle, New York, United States. It was built about 1872 in the Second Empire style. Its owner, Isaac Young, was a descendant of early settlers in the area. He chose the Second Empire style, more commonly found in cities and villages than on farms, possibly as a way of demonstrating his affluence. The present structure appears to incorporate parts of a vernacular late 18th-century farmhouse, leaving several anomalies in the current house as a result. The house's position atop a low hill would have, in its time, given it a commanding view of the region, including the Hudson River and New York City's skyline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallowa County Courthouse</span> United States historic place

The Wallowa County Courthouse is the seat of government for Wallowa County in northeastern Oregon. The courthouse is located in Enterprise, Oregon. It was built in 1909–1910 using locally quarried stone. It is a massive High Victorian structure built of local Bowlby stone. The courthouse was listed on National Register of Historic Places in 2000. Today, the courthouse still houses Wallowa County government offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hancock County Jail</span> United States historic place

The former Hancock County Jail is located at 40 State Street in Ellsworth, the county seat of Hancock County, Maine. Built in 1885–86, it has a well-appointed living space for the jailer in the front, and a series of cells in the back. It was operated as a jail until the early 1970s, and is now home to the Ellsworth Historical Society, which operates it as a museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008 for its architectural and historical significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everel S. Smith House</span> Historic house in Indiana, United States

The Everel S. Smith House is located on the northeast corner of West Jefferson Street and Clyborn Avenue in Westville, Indiana and is set well back from the streets it fronts. The yard is landscaped with four large maples and one medium size tulip tree equally spaced along the road. There is an enclosed garden with patio on the west side beginning at the back of the bay and extending north and west. The house faces south and is of two story, red brick construction with ivory painted wood trim. Its design is Italianate with a single story wing on the north (rear) side. There is a hip roof on the main section capped by a widow's walk with a wrought iron fence around its perimeter. A gable is centered on a short extension of the center, front wall which has a limestone block with beveled corners set in its center above the second story windows that is inscribed with the date 1879. There is a black, cast, spread eagle below the inscribed stone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Davis County Courthouse (Texas)</span> United States historic place

The Jeff Davis County Courthouse is located in the town of Fort Davis, the seat of Jeff Davis County in the U.S. state of Texas. The courthouse was constructed between 1910-1911 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. The Texas Historical Commission (THC) has also designated the building as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark since 2000 and, along with the surrounding courthouse square, as a State Antiquities Landmark since 2003. The surrounding county and county seat, along with the nearby historic frontier fort at Fort Davis National Historic Site, are named after Jefferson Davis, who served as U.S. war secretary at the time of the establishment of the fort and the town, and who would later become president of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mathew H. Ritchey House</span> Historic home in Missouri

Mathew H. Ritchey House, also known as Mansion House and Belle Starr House, is a historic home located in Newtonia, Newton County, Missouri. It was built about 1840, and is a two-story, brick dwelling with a two-story rear wing built using slave labor. The house rests on a sandstone block foundation and has a side-gabled roof. It features a one-story front portico and interior end chimneys. Also on the property is the contributing Ritchey family cemetery, outbuildings, and a well. During the American Civil War, the site saw fighting during both the First and Second Battles of Newtonia, which required its use as a hospital after the battles. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and is a contributing property in the First Battle of Newtonia Historic District. The building was damaged by a tornado in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Forsyth House</span> Historic house in Utah, United States

The Thomas Forsyth House is the historic home of an early settler of Toquerville, Utah. One of the Mormon pioneers, Thomas Forsyth built the house circa 1868 and lived there until his death in 1898. He operated mills, dried fruit and stocked the cellar with wine he made himself, while his wife Mary Browett Holmes ran a glove shop. The simple 1½-story fieldstone construction, a hall-and-parlor house extended with a lean-to, is representative of the pioneer period.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Lombard, John Pozzi (March 10, 1973). "National Register of Historic Places nomination - Bristol County Jail" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Bristol Historical and Preservation Society - About Us". Bristol Historical and Preservation Society. Archived from the original on May 3, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  4. "History - Rogers Free Library". Rogers Free Library. March 17, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
  5. "Bristol Historical & Preservation Society (Archived by Archive.org on March 21, 2012)". Bristol Historical and Preservation Society. Archived from the original on March 21, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2014.