Old York Gaol

Old York Gaol
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Location:	York, Maine
Coordinates:	43°08′38″N 70°39′06″W
Built:	1719
Architectural style:	American Colonial
NRHP Reference#:	68000016
Significant dates
Added to NRHP:	1968
Designated NHL:	November 24, 1968

For other uses, see Old Gaol.

Old York Gaol is a National Historic Landmark at 4 Lindsay Road in York, Maine.

The gaol was a colonial prison building for York County, Maine and served as a jail from 1719 to 1879. The original portion of the jail was constructed using timbers from the earlier York jail built in 1656. It was built in four phases, including construction of its original stone cell portion in 1719. The present structure's shape was finalized when the building was enlarged in the 1790s in response to a demand for better conditions in debtor's prisons after an increase in debtors following the American Revolution. After 1879 the Gaol was used as a school, warehouse, and boarding house until 1900 when it opened as a colonial museum of relics. The Old Gaol continues to be a museum and reflects the jail and jailer's quarters as they were in 1789.

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  Old York Gaol in 1936

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  Courtroom in the Old Gaol (Jail) in c. 1910

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in York County, Maine

References

• NPS Site
• Old York Gaol on York Historical Society Site
• "Old Gaol Museum". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1911078. Retrieved 2009-02-27.