Photo © New York Public Library

1st Almshouse Established

Description

The first Almshouse was opened on the Commons of the City in 1736 and fell under the care and control of the Overseers of the Poor, House of Correction, Workhouse and Poorhouse, headed by two men appointed by the Office of the Mayor.

Established by the Quakers on the grounds of City Hall.

Constructed, 1734

On May 15, 1739, it was ordered that an additional building be erected for a hospital for contagious diseases.

A committee was appointed on April 15, 1746, to have the poorhouse enlarged, on March 6, 1752, to have a bell-tower erected thereon and on March 19, 1757, to fence in a piece of ground for a burial-place next to the fence on the east side of the almshouse. In 1766-7, an addition to the building was built and another in 1769.

In January 1794, 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 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 old buildings were demolished by order of the common council of June 19, 1797. In 1803, construction of the New York City Hall began on the site and it was completed in 1812.

Closed, 1797

Dedication, 1999

The plaque was installed on City Hall Park.

Related Sites

1st Lying In Hospital established

The Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb-The Institute was first established behind City Hall, housed in the Almshouse