Walnut Street Prison
.jpg) |
|
| Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1773 |
| Closed | 1838 |
| Former name | Walnut Street Jail |
Walnut Street Prison was a city jail and penitentiary house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1773 to 1838. Legislation calling for establishment jail was passed in 1773 to relieve overcrowding in the High Street Jail; the first prisoners were admitted in 1776. It was located at Sixth and Walnut Streets, where it acquired its original name Walnut Street Jail.
The penitentiary house, built in 1790, is considered to be the first in the United States, as it was built to use individual cells and work details. The word "penitentiary" came from the Pennsylvania Quakers' belief in penitence and self-examination as a means to salvation. This was made a new and permanent form of combating crime through the practice of solitary confinement, which was later adopted at the Eastern State Penitentiary.
In 1773, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a new jail was opened to receive the overcrowded prisoners of High Street Jail. It was located on Walnut Street on a lot bounded by Walnut Street, Sixth and Prune Street (now Locust), where it acquired the name Walnut Street Jail.
The jail was designed to hold groups of inmates in large rooms. It was designed by Robert Smith, a prominent Philadelphia architect. The building was in the typical U-shape designed to hold large numbers of inmates. There was little regard for their physical well-being, and none for their rehabilitation. The prison was overcrowded and dirty, and inmates attacked each other regularly.
A new cellblock, called the "penitentiary house," was added in 1790. Built within the courtyard of the existing structure, it included a series of small cells for individual prisoners. The cells and the corridors connecting them were arranged to prevent prisoners from communicating with each other. Windows were high up (the cells had 9-foot-high (2.7 m) ceilings) and grated and louvered to prevent prisoners from looking onto the street. Each cell had a mattress, a water tap, and a privy pipe.
...
Wikipedia