1857, January 29, Neighbors Burned Down a House of Ill Repute, Chicago.

At about 2 o'clock in the morning, a building in the southwestern portion of the city was burned. It had been occupied as a lewd house for some time, to the great annoyance of the neighbors and was empty at the time, the police having arrested all the inmates and locked them in the Bridewell [1], about 10 o'clock the same night. 

Chicago House of Correction, 26th and California Avenue, Chicago, 1868-1928.

The fire was probably the work of some exasperated neighbors who determined to have the nuisance thoroughly abated.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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[1] The Bridewell was a municipal jail that housed petty criminals, vagrants, and drunks. It was located at Polk and Wells Streets, in the city's "vice district." The jail was a two-story building with three rooms. The first room was used for debtors, the second for drunks, and the third for vagrants. The jail was filthy and overcrowded, and the conditions were often inhumane. The Bridewell was closed in 1860. It was replaced by a new jail, the Cook County Jail, located at Hubbard and State Streets.

The name "Bridewell" comes from a similar institution in London, England. The London Bridewell was founded in 1555 as a workhouse for the poor. It later became a jail for petty criminals and vagrants. The Chicago Bridewell was modeled after the London Bridewell.