HOWARD, RHODE ISLAND

'Howard' was originally a farming hamlet in the southern part of Cranston, Rhode Island. In the mid-19th century, most of the land was acquired by the State of Rhode Island to construct a state prison, a poor house, and other state facilities. The Rhode Island State prison, built here in 1892, and now called the Maximum Security Building, is a stark and imposing gothic structure built of granite block. Over the last several decades, numerous other institutional buildings for incarcerated criminals and the mentally retarded were constructed here. Today, Howard encompasses an area of almost one square mile. Its numerous prison buildings house over 2,000 male and female prisoners as well as several hundred mental health patients.

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References and external links

See also

References and external links

★ RI Historical Society Howard Prison records

See also

★ List of prisons in Rhode Island

★ Rhode Island Department of Corrections