Sugar House Prison Window

Sugar houses in New York City were used as makeshift prisons by British forces during the American Revolutionary War. Three different sugar houses were used to house American prisoners of war along with public buildings and prison ships. The first batch of American prisoners to be imprisoned in the sugar houses were 2,837 men who had been captured during the Battle of Fort Washington on November 16, 1776. All three houses were overcrowded and the prisoners contained within them only received supplies from American authorities and private citizens. The British continued to use the sugar houses as prisons until they evacuated New York City in 1783.