Bridewell (New York City jail)

The Bridewell was a notorious municipal prison that once loomed over what is now City Hall Park. Construction began in seventeen sixty-eight, but the building was so infamous for its grim, windowless design that it became a dark symbol of early American incarceration. Although it was intended to serve the city as a workhouse and jail, the structure remained incomplete for years, eventually being put to a far more hostile use during the Revolutionary War.