House of Correction

The Middlesex County House of Correction was established in 1929 by an act of the Massachusetts Legislature. Located on land historically owned by Dr. John Bailey, the house of correction has been in continuous operation at this site since 1931. The original main building and cell blocks were completed in 1930 and housed up to 300 men at anyone time. The dormitory, which housed men working on the dairy farm associated with the house of correction, housed 80 men. Both buildings were supported by a facilities department that provided heat and plumbing to the entire complex. The main building and cell blocks and facilities building was designed by Charles R. Greco. Greco designed many large-scale multi-family and institutional buildings in Massachusetts including the Old East Boston High School, the Cambridge Home for the Aged and Infirm and Springfield's Radding-Winthrop Building, all of which are listed in the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

The Middlesex County House of Corrections was established under the Acts of 1929, Chapter 381. The new facility was required as the house of correction in Cambridge was determined to be unsafe for human occupancy. The land for the new facility was taken by eminent domain on Treble Cove Road. When the property was taken by Middlesex County in 1929, it was an approximately 300 acre operating dairy farm once known as Winning Farm. Home of the first silo in the United States that followed the French system of storing corn silage in silos, the farm and its operations were written about in the 1880 publication of "The Book of Ensilage" by Dr. John Bailey. The two silos constructed by Dr. Bailey are no longer present and were likely demolished by 1930 when the dairy complex was constructed by the House of Correction.

References

1. MACRIS BIL.W