Historical Timeline and Photos

Jefferson Market: From Courthouse to Library

Before the courthouse: The Jefferson Market and Firetower 1875-1877:Construction of the Courthouse 1877-1929:Famous Cases and the Women's House of Detention 1945-1967:Abandonment and Conversion into a Library 1967-present:Rebirth as a Library (NYPL homepage) 1974:Threat of Closure and Community Response 1990s to present:Recent Restoration Efforts

Key Figures - A listing of people involved in the history of Jefferson Market, from its construction to the 1970s.

For more photos/images:

In the library: Guide to Visual Images in Jefferson Market Library's New York Collection

On the Web: Berenice Abbott photographs - Jefferson Market court and women's prison Museum of the City of New York) Historic American Buildings Survey- from the Library of Congress's American Memory site