Eastern Correctional Facility
Interactive map of Eastern Correctional Facility | |
| Location | 30 Institution Road Napanoch, New York |
|---|---|
| Status | open |
| Security class | maximum |
| Capacity | 1100 |
| Opened | 1900 |
| Managed by | New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision |
The Eastern Correctional Facility is a New York state prison for men in Napanoch, Ulster County. Its imposing main building, with medieval-style turrets and long green copper roof, was designed by architect John Rochester Thomas.[1]
Operated by New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Eastern has been a maximum security prison for men since 1973. The correctional facility is one of the oldest in the state.
At various times the facility was designated as the "Institute for Defective and Delinquent Men at Napanoch", "State Institution for Male Defective Delinquents", and the "Catskill Reformatory".[2]
History
The site opened as the Eastern New York Reformatory. It was chosen partly for its easily available stone, and the transport provided by the adjacent Delaware and Hudson Canal; able-bodied adult prisoners were imported for construction labor.[3] Architect, Rochester Thomas also designed Elmira Correctional Facility. [1] The first Building Commissioner for the Correctional facility [4] was New York State Assembly Democrat, George H. Bush. He was appointed in 1894.[5]
In 1906 the adult prisoners were returned, replaced with juvenile offenders, and the reformatory officially began operation. Years later it achieved its capacity of 500 beds. In 1921 Eastern became the first of the institutions for defective delinquents in the United States.[2]
The state's Ulster Correctional Facility was built on Eastern's grounds in 1990.
References
- ^ a b "Thomas, John Rochester" at The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume IX (1899). New York: James T. White and Company, p. 329
- ^ a b "STATE TO TAKE OVER MORE CITY INMATES". New York Times. 24 January 1970. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
- ^ "A Second Reformatory". correctionhistory.org. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
- ^ Palmer, John (1895). Manual for the Use of the Legislature of the State of New York, 1895. Albany: The Argus Company. p. 415.
- ^ The Convention Manuel of Procedures, Forms, and Rules for the Regulation of Business in the Sixth New York State Constitutional Convention, 1894. Vol. Part 1, Vol. 2. Albany: The Argus Company. 1894. pp. cii.