Old Prison
Posted by: 
Shorelander
N 42° 21.541 W 071° 03.535
19T E 330444 N 4691691
The site of the Old Prison and of an old courthouse in downtown Boston.
Waymark Code: WM8Z4
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 03/13/2006
Views: 32
From the plaque: "The first prison in Boston stood on this site, close ot the center of government and trade in the early settlement. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne describes its appearance: 'The rust on the ponderous iron-work of its oaken door looked more antique than anything else in the New World. ... But on one side of the portal, was a wild rose-bush.'
Did you know? Captain Kidd was brought here in 1699 after he was captured, and before he was shipped to England to be executed."
The plaque is on the north side of the building, facing Court Street. To get to this building, you can walk from either the Government Center or State T stops - if from the former, walk east down Court St, and if from the latter, walk west down Court St. The building on the site of the Old Prison (and on which the plaque is mounted) is on the south side of the street and is currently used as the Boston Public School Central Administration Building. Its address is 26 Court St, Boston, MA.
Also mounted on the building is another plaque, detailing how the fight for Probation started on this site: "1785 - 1859
John Augustus
Moved by the plight of the unfortunate in the jails and prisons of his day a humble Boston shoemaker began a great movement in the reformation of offenders when in 1841 he took from the court for a period of probation one who under his care and with his friendship became a man again. This tablet marking the centenary of probation is inscribed to his memory by those who follow in his footsteps.
National Probation Association - May 30, 1941", and below it, "On this site stood the old Court House, scene of the labors of John Augustus."
Agency Responsible for Placement: Boston 200
Year Placed: 1976
County: Suffolk
City/Town Name: Boston
Agency Responsible for Placement (if not in list above): Not listed
Relevant Web Site: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
When logging a Massachusetts Historic Marker, we ask that you not only describe your visit, but to upload a picture from it. The picture does not have to be of the marker - one picture of the marker is enough. But a photo of you standing next to the marker or a photograph the subject of the marker - those are examples of possible photographs to upload.