From the New London (CT) The Day, 2/6/1888, p. 1, c. 4

MANY DOLLARS IN IT.
Plan to Move Libby Prison from Richmond to Chicago.

CHICAGO, Feb. 6. – Steps are being taken for the formation of a company with $400,000 capital to move Libby prison from Richmond, Va., to this city. The prison is now owned by the Southern Fertilizing company and can be purchased for $23,000. It is of brick, three stories high, with an old fashioned gabled roof, and is 50 years old. A member of the proposed company, not Eugene Field, says the structure is to be taken down, removed to this city and rebuilt just as it now stands.

“We propose,” he said, “to number every brick, stone and shingle. Every beam, joist, door and window will be set in place. The enterprise will cost about $200,000. We will surround it with another building 200x100 feet, with a glass roof, and on the wall opposite the rear of the prison we will have painted a panoramic view of the James river and the country beyond. The enterprise is a business speculation.”

Go to top