School for Crime

School for Crime. . , State officials evaluated New-Gate's success largely by how much money the prison earned and how few prisoners escaped. By the 1820s, the General Assembly became increasingly concerned about overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and the failure of the prison to sustain itself economically. The prison overseers warned that mixing first-time offenders with "a gang of the most corrupt, depraved and incorrigible wretches that ever disgraced the human form" made New-Gate a school for crime. , Changes in Connecticut's criminal code in 1821 significantly increased the number of crimes punishable by imprisonment, and New-Gate's population swelled to a peak of 127 inmates. The state erected this four-story cell block to accommodate the increasing population and combat the inhumane living conditions that existed underground. Officials designed the building to house prisoners and included a granary, storeroom, offices, mess hall, and treadmill. With the completion of the cell block, men and women could be separated and the first female prisoner, Rachel Heddy, was admitted. , "It is in these cells where so many are confined together, when the eye and the ear of the guard are withdrawn, that the novice in vice is deeply instructed in the whole art and mystery of crime." , New-Gate Prison Special Committee Report, 1825 , Even with the newly constructed cell block, members of a committee created to evaluate the prison's operations still reported that New-Gate was not an efficient state prison. Committee members and prison officials argued for the use of solitary cells, claiming that the cell block housed too many prisoners together, but New-Gate's infrastructure was not equipped for solitary confinement. Due to this, and its numerous other financial, structural, and sanitary shortcomings, the prison closed in 1827. Officials transferred approximately 120 inmates to a new "state-of-the-art" facility in Wethersfield, Connecticut. , ( photo captions ) , , The entirety of the cell block remained standing until a fire destroyed it in 1904. , , Tourists using the observation tower located above the cell block, 1895. , , Basement of the cell block. Date unknown.