New York House of Refuge - Wikipedia New York House of Refuge A wood engraving representing the NY House of Refuge in 1855 The New York House of Refuge was the first juvenile reformatory established in the United States. The reformatory was opened in 1824 on the Bowery in Manhattan, New York City, destroyed by a fire in 1839, and relocated first to Twenty - Third Street and then, in 1854, to Randalls Island. Through its 111 - year history the reformatory was privately funded, receiving only guidance, supervision and additional funding from state agencies. History James W. Gerard and Isaac Collins of the Society for the Prevention of Pauperism conceived of the idea for the House of Refuge in 1822. Gerard visited prisons, conferred with justices and criminal lawyers, and in 1822 submitted a proposal to the Society for the establishment of a reformatory for juveniles that would segregate them from adult prisoners. The Society appointed John Griscom to chair a committee to draw up a detailed plan for the facility. Other members of the committee were Isaac Collins, Cornelius Dubois, James W. Gerard, Hiram Ketchum, and Eleazer Lord. On December 19, 1823 Griscom submitted a detailed report that was enthusiastically adopted by Cadwallader Colden and thirty managers of the Society. Funds were privately raised and on March 29, 1824, by an act of New York State legislature, the Society was merged into the House of Refuge. One of the inmates of the House of Refuge was Austin Reed, whose posthumously published memoir The Life and Adventures of a Haunted Convict recounted, in part, his tenure in the institution in the 1830s. The institution drew acclaim from touring French prison reformers Gustave de Beaumont and Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831, and writer Charles Dickens, who described it approvingly in his 1842 American Notes. Architect and construction engineer R.G. Hatfield ( 1815 - 1879 ) designed the House of Refuge 's vast new 1854 building on Randalls Island, following a fire at the previous Manhattan location. Beginning in 1901 female inmates were removed to the newly - opened New York State Reformatory for Women, now the Taconic Correctional Facility. 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 Jump up ^ `` New York House of Refuge ''. New York State Archives. Retrieved 2011 - 05 - 05. The New York House of Refuge was the first juvenile reformatory in the nation... Jump up ^ https://yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/3841 Jump up ^ https://www.nytimes.com/1860/01/23/news/our-city-charities-the-new-york-house-of-refuge-for-juvenile-delinquents.html?pagewanted=all. Jump up ^ Thirtieth Annual Report of the Society for Juvenile Delinquents, 1855, p. 73 - 79 Jump up ^ http://news.yale.edu/2013/12/12/first-known-prison-narrative-african-american-writer-discovered-yale-s-beinecke-library Jump up ^ Stepenoff, Bonnie ( 24 May 2010 ). The Dead End Kids of St. Louis : Homeless Boys and the People Who Tried to Save Them. University of Missouri Press. p. 56. Retrieved 6 October 2016. Jump up ^ Kidder, Frank Eugene ( 1904 ). The Architect 's and Builder 's Pocket - book : A Handbook for Architects, Structural Engineers, Builders, and Draughtsmen. J. Wiley & Sons. p. 1546. Retrieved 7 October 2016. Jump up ^ Eisenstadt, Peter R. ; Moss, Laura - Eve ( 2005 ). The Encyclopedia of New York State. Syracuse University Press. p. 1088. Retrieved 6 October 2016. External links A picture of the NY House of Refuge in 1832 at NYPL Digital Gallery Coordinates : 40 ° 47 ′ 42 '' N 73 ° 55 ′ 23 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 40.795 ° N 73.923 ° W ﻿ / 40.795 ; - 73.923 This article about a building or structure in Manhattan is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_York_House_of_Refuge&oldid=841163068 '' Categories : 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 ) Manhattan building and structure stubs Talk About Wikipedia Deutsch Edit links This page was last edited on 14 May 2018, at 11 : 38. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when did the house of refuge in new york first open
Answer: 1824