Escape, Build, Repeat

Escape, Build, Repeat. . , In 1774, following several successful escapes, the General Assembly instructed that a log house be built over the original mineshaft to prevent further prison escapes. In 1777 prisoners attempting to escape via this mineshaft burned the guardhouse down, ultimately closing the prison until 1780. Once again fire destroyed the guardhouse in 1782 and the prison remained closed until 1790. When New-Gate reopened, the log house had been replaced with a brick structure that included a room for storage and a room for sick inmates. Two more stone rooms to house "troublesome" inmates were added in 1819. , The door to the left leads to the area used as storage and extra housing for the inmates. The shaft through the opening to the right is the original entrance to the mine. Miners, inmates, guards, and tourists all entered the mine by climbing down a 35 foot wooden ladder. In 1972, the state installed a new stairway entrance which is still used today. These two doors were installed for the convenience of tourists. Originally, inmates entered through the guard's quarters above and descended through a trap door to the ladder. , "Your Honors must have heard that the prisoners have all escaped the prison... they effected their escape by the help of evil minded persons abroad before the necessary and proper securities could be completed." , New-Gate Prison Overseers Report, 1774 , During the American Revolution, New-Gate served as a prison for individuals loyal to the British crown. In 1781, roughly 28 men, mainly loyalists, managed to escape through the original mine shaft when the wife of one of the prisoners was being let down to visit him. , "In approaching to this horrid dungeon, they were first conducted through the apartments of the guards, then through a trap-door down stairs into a room half underground..." , Thomas Smith and Ebenezer Hathaway, The Political Magazine, 1781 , ( photo captions ) , , North side of Guardhouse with both doors, observation tower and back porch. , , "A View of the Guard-House and Simsbury Mine" as drawn in The Political Magazine, in 1781, London.