Irving Block prison

The Irving Block prison was a wartime prison in Memphis, Tennessee during the American Civil War. Notorious for its cruel and unsanitary living conditions, it was also known as the "Bastille" of Memphis.

The building that later became used as the Irving Block Prison was constructed in 1860 on Second Street in Memphis, as an office building. To protect the building from burglary, iron slats covered the windows. During the Civil War, it was converted into a Confederate Hospital by the Southern Mothers organization. After the capture of Memphis by the Union Army in 1862, it was turned into a prison to house soldiers and civilian Confederate sympathizers, including women and Memphis mayor John Park.

In 1862, General Ulysses S. Grant appointed Stephen A. Hurlbut in charge of Memphis and the Irving Block prison. Hurlbut had been instructed to crack down on Confederate sympathizers and the smuggling of cotton, but instead set up an extortion ring to profit from the turmoil in the city. Hurlbut also began extorting money from Memphis merchants, imprisoning them in Irving Block on false charges of espionage and demanding exorbitant bond fees, then never calling the accused to return to court, keeping the bond or sometimes finding them guilty in absentia as an excuse to confiscate the rest of their property.

Hurlbut appointed Captain George A. Williams prison commandant in 1863, and together they expanded the extortion ring to include the commanding officers at the Irving Block prison. Williams was emboldened by their success, demanding ransoms from wealthy residents who sought to release captive soldiers from confinement at the prison. John Hallum, a Memphis lawyer, wrote publicly about Hulbut and Williams' crimes and uncovered a scandal involving Hurlbut, making him a liability to Hurlbut's operation. Hallum was arrested and confined at Fort Pickering, where he nearly died from the deteriorating conditions. The notoriety surrounding Hallum's arrest brought about a War Department inspection of Irving Block in 1864.

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