Alms House in the Fields - late 18th Century

The old Alms House in the Fields in the late 18th century. The second building of its kind constructed in the City of New York. Source: Duer's Old Yorker collection, New York Public Library.

Alms houses or almshouses were established in England, in the Middle Ages, to provide a place of residence for poor, elderly and distressed people, including widows and orphans. This kind of institution also existed in other countries.

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The first City Alms House (also known as the Poor House) was erected in the Fields in 1735, opened in 1736 and demolished in 1797. Apart from providing shelter and food, it was a workhouse to ensure that those who entered it would learn skills and knowledge to enable them to gain employment. A portion of the Almshouse also served as an infirmary to treat the diseased poor.

The first steps for building a new alms house were taken in January 1794, when the Common Council decided that the old buildings were in a state of disrepair and had become unfit for the comfortable accommodation of the poor. Construction of the second Alms House began in 1896, near to the first one, and it was completed in May 1897, when the common council ordered the commissioners of the almshouse to remove the inhabitants out of the old into the new Alms House. The new building housed the poor until 1816, when the residents were moved farther north in the City. After that, the building housed the American Museum, the Historical Society (from 1816 to 1823) and the Chambers Street Bank.

The City Hall in the Park was built from 1803 and 1812, on the site of the first Alms House. In 1831, the Alms House building was designated to function as part of City Hall, used for courts and public offices until it was destroyed by fire in 1854.