The Old York Gaol is a former colonial prison at Lindsay Road and Main Street (
United States Route 1A
U.S. Route 1A is the name of several highways found in the United States.
North Carolina Wake Forest–Youngsville
U.S. Route 1A (US 1A) is a alternate route of U.S. Route 1 in North Carolina, US 1 through the towns of Wake Forest, ...
) in
York, Maine
York is a town in York County, Maine, United States, near the southern tip of the state. The population in the 2020 census was 13,723. Situated beside the Atlantic Ocean on the Gulf of Maine, York is a well-known summer resort town. It is home ...
. 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
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1968. It is owned by the
Museums of Old York and is open for tours between May and October.
Description and history
The gaol is a largely wood frame structure that has had a long evolutionary history of growth and change, and presently appears as a 1-1/2 story gambrel-roofed structure that is partial clapboarded, with sections of stone wall. The oldest portion of the building, dating to 1719 or 1720, is a stone cell block containing a single cell, with stone walls thick lined on the inside with oak planking. About 1736 several first-floor chambers were added, including a kitchen, dining room, and parlor space that has a folding partition wall (added late in the 19th century), so that it be divided into two separate rooms. In the second floor was added, with three cells and a central chamber. One of the cells, surmised to be intended for use as a debtor's cell or warden's room, is of noticeably finer quality. Around the turn of the 19th century a second stone cell was added to the first floor, along with an extension including a dining room, parlor, and bedchamber for the warden.
The original portion of the jail was constructed using timbers from the earlier York jail built in 1656.
[ The building served as the official provincial jail for York County (then part of ) until 1760, when it was turned over to the town of York. The building's last major enlargement was made in response to a demand for better conditions in ]debtor's prisons
A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. Until the mid-19th century, debtors' prisons (usually similar in form to locked workhouses) were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe.Cory, Lucinda"A Historic ...
after an increase in debtors following the American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
. After 1879 the building was used as a school, warehouse, and boarding house until 1900 when it opened as a colonial museum of relics. The Old Gaol continues to be a museum and reflects the jail and jailer's quarters as they were in 1789.
See also
*List of National Historic Landmarks in Maine
__NOTOC__
This is a complete List of National Historic Landmarks in Maine. The United States National Historic Landmark program is operated under the auspices of the National Park Service, and recognizes structures, districts, objects, and similar ...
*List of the oldest buildings in Maine
This article attempts to list the oldest buildings in the state of Maine in the United States of America, including the oldest houses in Maine and any other surviving structures from the First Period or oldest buildings of their type in Maine. S ...
*
References
External links
Museums of Old York web site
{{National Register of Historic Places
Government buildings completed in 1719
Infrastructure completed in 1719
National Historic Landmarks in Maine
Defunct prisons in Maine
Prison museums in the United States
History museums in Maine
Museums in York County, Maine
Buildings and structures in York, Maine
Jails on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
National Register of Historic Places in York County, Maine
Historic district contributing properties in Maine
Jails in Maine
Debtors' prisons
1719 establishments in Massachusetts