Bridewell from Chambers Street

The Bridewell (center) and Charity-School, view south from Chambers Street, dated February 1808. Wash drawing by Anne-Marguérite, Baroness Hyde de Neuville (1771-1849). Source: New York Public Library.

The City Hall, under construction (from 1803 to 1812), and the Brick Church steeple (demolished in 1857), are on the left. Broadway and the St. Paul's Chapel are on the right.

The Bridewell was a municipal prison built in Georgian style in the second half of the 18th century, on the site to the west of the present City Hall. Construction began in 1768 and the building was completed after the Independence War (1775-1783). It was demolished in 1838..