If Walls Could Talk

If Walls Could Talk. . , In February 1781, officials oversaw the construction of a picket fence around the prison yard to improve security. In 1802, Colonel Calvin Barber from Simsbury built the twelve-foot stone wall enclosing a 180 x 160 foot prison yard. The new wall expanded the prison yard and provided greater security, keeping prisoners in and unwanted visitors out. The brownstone used for the wall and other buildings most likely came from nearby quarries. , "Ascending, by rocky road, the western side of the mountain, I discovered at length the walls of the prison, rising gray upon the brow.” , Edward Augustus Kendall, Travels Through the Northern Parts of the United States, 1807-1809, 1809 , Both above and below ground we can find evidence of the past people who resided here. Etched into the stone are letters, many of which appear to be initials. We will never know definitively whose hands painstakingly created them but the presence of these marks stands as a clear reminder of the people who once worked and served time here. , "Here's to Lieutenant Barber's great Wall, May it be like the walls of Jericho, and tumble down at the sound of a ram's horn." , Statement from Irish Prisoner, Richard Phelps, Newgate of Connecticut, 1876 , ( photo captions ) , , Foundation of Centre Building has stood since 1790. Newgate Prison, Copper Hall East Granby, Conn. , , In the 1830s, the Phoenix Mining Company removed the northeast corner of the perimeter wall to accommodate the mining operations. , , "A Prospective View of Old Newgate, Connecticut's State Prison," Engraving, by Richard Brunton (New-Gate Inmate), 1799, courtesy of the Connecticut Historical Society. This image shows the picket fence surrounding the prison yard.