The red brick Jefferson Market Courthouse is one of the iconic buildings of Greenwich Village. Designed in 1877 by Calvert Vaux—the architect of Central Park—in the 1880’s it was voted the 4th most beautiful building in America by a panel of architects. But it was a lot larger back then, filling the entire block.
For a while, the back half was used as the Women’s House of Detention—basically a holding cell for hookers. On warm summer nights, these young ladies were infamous for catcalling to fellas on the sidewalk, promising favors in return for bail. Many a working girl was bailed out of jail in this way.
Experience these and other stories in our Greenwich Village tour. We offer a unique NY tour experience, told with audio narration, hundreds of pictures, video clips, gps-enabled map, trivia quizzes, local recommendations, and much more. Walk New York with Racontrs in your hand and take a walk through history.
