The New York House of Refuge was the first juvenile reformatory established in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It opened in 1824 on the

Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighbourhood, neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row (Manhattan), Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, New York City and was destroyed by a fire in 1839, before being relocated first to Twenty-Third Street and then, in 1854, to

Randalls Island Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Island, in New York City.

. Through its 111-year history, the reformatory was privately funded, receiving only guidance, supervision and additional funding from state agencies. Beginning in 1901, female inmates were removed to the newly opened New York State Reformatory for Women, now the

Taconic Correctional Facility Taconic Correctional Facility is a medium/minimum security women's prison in Bedford, New York operated by the New York State DOCCS. Location Taconic is located in Westchester County, approximately fifty miles north of New York City. It lies ...

. In the 1930s, younger male inmates (ages 12 to 15) were transferred to the new state training school at Warwick, and the older boys to the newly constructed state prison in Coxsackie. The House of Refuge closed on May 11, 1935.

References

External links

New York Public Library Digital Gallery
{{coord, 40.795, -73.923, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NY, display=title Juvenile detention centers in the United States Buildings and structures in Manhattan 1825 establishments in New York (state) Randalls and Wards Islands Bowery 23rd Street (Manhattan) 1935 disestablishments in New York (state)