Moyamensing Prison was a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It was designed by

Thomas Ustick Walter Thomas Ustick Walter (September 4, 1804 – October 30, 1887) was an American architect of German descent, the dean of American architecture between the 1820 death of Benjamin Latrobe and the emergence of H.H. Richardson in the 1870s. He was ...

. Its

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

was laid April 2, 1832; it opened on October 19, 1835, was in use until 1963, and was demolished in 1968.First Annual Report of the Inspectors of the Philadelphia County Prison, 27 November 1847 (Pgs. 8-10)
/ref> For nearly 140 years the

Moyamensing Moyamensing is an area of Philadelphia established as a Moyamensing Township during British colonial rule on the fast land of the Neck, lying between Passyunk Square, Philadelphia, Passyunk and Wicaco. It was Act of Consolidation, 1854, incorpor ...

Prison dominated the southwest at the intersection of Passyunk Avenue and Reed Street in

South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.Laws of the General Assembly of the State of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session 1830 '31, Pg. 228, Act No. 123
/ref> In published reports of the Board of Inspectors it was listed as the Philadelphia County Prison, but was generally referred to by its location, which was about a mile south of the line of the city proper, in what was then Moyamensing Township, as the Moyamensing Prison, and as the New County Prison in some architectural plans.New County Prison (Moyamensing) Project Drawings used in compiling description, Local ID Numbers: WTU*001*014, WTU*001*013, WTU*001*012, WTU*001*011, WTU*001*010, WTU*001*009, WTU*001*008, WTU*001*007, WTU*001*006, WTU*001*005, WTU*001*004, WTU*001*003. Thomas Ustick Walter Collection, Athenaeum of Philadelphia
/ref> Moyamensing Prison originally comprised three separate facilities. The County Prison was the first to be built, founded in 1832 and finished in 1835. One of the additions to its north was what was originally called the “debtor's apartment”, or Debtor's Wing, and later the “apartment for females” (prison for females), founded in 1835 and finished in 1836. West of that was the structure originally called the “vagrant's apartment”, before also being called “apartment for females”, founded in 1837 and finished in 1838. Though originally attached to about sixteen acres of land, the prison itself occupied a space of 310' in front by 525' in depth, and its additions on the North of 150' in front. Eventually the complex was relegated to little more than its footprint.

Architecture and design

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Thomas U. Walter designed all three sections of the complex and was the primary contractor on the two later projects. He also designed extensions in 1870, but they were never executed. Walter is also well known for his later design of the dome of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

wings of the Capitol as they exist today. Philadelphia County Prison Moyamensing 1901

The facade of the prison consisted of a central building of 53' in width, with receding wings on either side of 50', flanked by massy octagonal

towers A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifica ...

. Beyond these towers, receding wing-walls were continued to the extremities of the front, and terminated with embattled bastions. The whole exterior was composed of a blue

syenite Syenite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock with a general composition similar to that of granite, but deficient in quartz, which, if present at all, occurs in relatively small concentrations (< 5%). Some syenites contain larger proport ...

, obtained from Quincy, in the state of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. The style of architecture is that of the castles of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, and its decorations are in the perpendicular or

tudor style Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

English Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of Gothic cathedrals and churches, cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture, Got ...

. The center building was three stories in height, diminishing at each story in regular offsets, capped with projecting belts. The corners were finished with circular warder towers of 5'-4" in diameter, commencing at 10' below the top of the front wall, and extending 5' above it; these towers projected three-fourths of their circumference over the corners of the building, and were crowned with embattled parapets, supported by

corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the st ...

. The front wall and both the flanks were also finished with battlements, pierced with

embrasures An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions ( merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed ou ...

, forming an embattled screen between the towers. The wings were two stories in height and contained the gates of the entrance, each of which was 10' wide and 17' high. These wings were pierced with slip windows, and finished with embattled parapets, in the same manner as the center building. The octagonal towers which flanked the wings, and the

bastions A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

on the extreme angles of the front, were likewise crowned with pierced

battlements A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

corresponding with the rest of the design. The

projected 2' from the wing walls, and measured, on each face, 15' in width at the base, and 13' at the top. The center building was surmounted by an

embattled A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

octagonal

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

, which rose to the height of 77' from the ground. The interior was disposed of in two general divisions, one for untried prisoners and the other for male convicts; the female convicts being confined in a building on the adjoining lot, which will subsequently be described. The main prison contained 408 separate

cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...

, built in two blocks of three stories in height, extending from each wing at right angles with the principal front. The cells opened into a corridor of 20' in width, occupying the center of each block and extending the whole length and height of the building. The second and third stories were approached by means of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

stairways leading to galleries, supported by

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

brackets. A clerk's office was situated at the head of each corridor, from which every cell door may be seen throughout the whole range. Each cell was 9' wide, 13' long, and 9' high, arched with bricks, and floored with oak planks. They were all furnished with separate hydrants, water closets, flues for ventilation, flues for the admission of fresh air, and flues for admitting warm air, generated by furnaces placed in the cellar of the building. The hydrants and water closets were supplied from the works at Fairmount. The furnaces were constructed at each end, and in the center of each block, and the warm air was conveyed along passages of 3' in width, under the pavement of the corridor. The smoke flues were formed in these passages, the bottom and sides of them being composed of bricks, and the top of cast iron plates; these flues extended horizontally from the main furnaces at each end, to the center, where they rose perpendicularly to the top of the building; an ascending current was produced in the vertical portion of each flue by means of small furnaces constructed in the center, and which were also made to impart heat to the cells adjacent to them; forming an active current in the horizontal flues to convey heat along the whole range in sufficient quantities to keep all the cells of an agreeable temperature. Each cell had a wooden door on the outside face of the wall, and an iron one on the inside; both doors were secured to a cast iron casing or frame, which extended through the whole thickness of the wall. The kitchen, bakehouse, laundry, and bathhouses, were situated in a separate building, occupying a space of 43' by 72' long, in the yard between the two blocks of cells; they were approached from both divisions of the prison, by means of covered passages. The kitchen was furnished with a steam boiler, and four cast-iron reservoirs, of 80 gallons each, in which all the boiling from prisoners was done by steam. The apartment for females was situated on an adjoining enclosure, of 150' by 340', entered by a gateway from the yard of the main prison. The building measured 43' by 282' and consisted of two stories in height, embracing 100 separate cells of 8' x 12', a suite of rooms for an infirmary of 20' x 51', and two rooms for a keeper, each 20' x 20'. The arrangements for hydrants, water closets, warming and ventilation, were similar to those already described. The principal entrance to this portion of the establishment was from what was then Eleventh street (now Reed); it consisted of a gateway of 9' in width, placed in the middle of a projecting center of 50', composed of brown

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

, finished in the Egyptian style of architecture. The whole western front was built of the same material and in the same style. The Debtor's Apartment, or Debtor’s Wing, was situated on Passyunk Avenue, north of the main prison, and east of the female apartment. The interior featured two stories on a raised basement, with a central longitudinal corridor floor plan with flanking prison cells. Measuring 50’-1/2” x 86’-2”, the exterior was composed of brown

, in the Egyptian style of architecture. The façade consisted of a recessed three-bay portico, supported by two columns, and was proportioned from those of a temple on the Isle d'Elephantine in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. The windows were crowned with the massy bead and

cavetto cornice A cavetto is a concave moulding with a regular curved profile that is part of a circle, widely used in architecture as well as furniture, picture frames, metalwork and other decorative arts. In describing vessels and similar shapes in pottery, ...

peculiar to the style, and the top of the building was finished in the same manner. A winged globe was carved in the cavetto of the main cornice, and a similar ornament is introduced over the door. U.S. Dept of the Interior National Park Service Architectural Data Form, Philadelphia County Prison HABS No. PA-1097-A, Debtor's Wing
/ref> The prison complex was demolished in 1968, and the front portico of the Debtor’s Wing is in the possession of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Today, all that is left is a low heavy masonry stone wall remaining on the site along Reed Street where the Acme Market shopping center sits today. The wall remnants were designated for inclusion in the

Philadelphia Register of Historic Places The Philadelphia Register of Historic Places (PRHP) is a register of historic places by the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Buildings, structures, sites, objects, interiors and districts can be added to the list. Criteria According to the Phila ...

in January 2019.

Famous prisoners

Tom Hyer Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, reigning American bare knuckle heavyweight champion, was briefly held at Moyamensing while waiting for a requisition from the Governor of Maryland prosecuting him for an illegal but well attended and highly publicized prize fight against Irish boxer Yankee Sullivan on February 7, 1849. On July 1, 1849, when

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

was in Philadelphia, he drank, became drunk and hallucinatory, and made a

suicide attempt A suicide attempt is an attempt to die by suicide that results in survival. It may be referred to as a "failed" or "unsuccessful" suicide attempt, though these terms are discouraged by mental health professionals for implying that a suicide res ...

. He was detained for public drunkenness and incarcerated for one night in Moyamensing Prison. No records exist which support this story other than Poe's own account of it. While imprisoned here in 1855,

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

Passmore Williamson Passmore Williamson (February 23, 1822 – February 1, 1895) was an American abolitionist and businessman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a free state in the antebellum years. As secretary of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society and a member of i ...

became a focus of the press, as northern publications spread his story throughout the country. Friends comfortably furnished his cell, and he received letters and several hundred visitors including both

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

and

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 slaves, including family and friends, us ...

. One of America's first serial killers,

H. H. Holmes Herman Webster Mudgett (May 16, 1861 – May 7, 1896), better known as Dr. Henry Howard Holmes or H. H. Holmes, was an American con artist and serial killer, the subject of more than 50 lawsuits in Chicago alone. Until his execution in 1896, he ...

, was incarcerated at Moyamensing Prison in 1895. While there, he wrote a memoir called ''Holmes' Own Story'' which included his Moyamensing Prison diary. He also wrote a confession to twenty-seven murders that was publicized in

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

. Holmes was hanged at the prison on May 7, 1896. Holmes' neck did not snap immediately; he instead died slowly, twitching over fifteen minutes before being pronounced dead twenty minutes after the trap was sprung.

References

General references

First Annual Report of the Inspectors of the Philadelphia County Prison, 27 November 1847 (Pgs. 8-10)

New County Prison (Moyamensing) Project, Thomas Ustick Walter Collection, Athenaeum of Philadelphia

U.S. Dept of the Interior National Park Service Architectural Data Form, Philadelphia County Prison HABS No. PA-1097

U.S. Dept of the Interior National Park Service Architectural Data Form, Philadelphia County Prison HABS No. PA-1097-A, Debtor's Wing
{{Coord, 39, 55, 55.0, N, 75, 09, 40.3, W, display=title 1835 establishments in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Philadelphia Defunct prisons in Pennsylvania Thomas U. Walter buildings Demolished buildings and structures in Philadelphia Buildings and structures completed in 1835 Buildings and structures demolished in 1968 1963 disestablishments in Pennsylvania

Architecture and design

Famous prisoners

Further reading

References

General references