From the New York Times, 6/23/1895

Libby Prison to be Demolished.

From the Denver (Col.) Post.

The old Libby Prison, with which there are so many associations of desponding spirits and pinched stomachs, was some years ago taken down from its original site on the James River and rebuilt in all its grimness in Chicago. It never was in itself a pretty building, and its associations do not help the fancy to invest it with any suggestions of beauty. But Chicago wanted it, just as she wants everything that she thinks will draw, even if it be nothing more than attention. The old prison did not prove the attraction that was expected. The old soldiers did not go around as numerously as was anticipated, to hunt up the foot by five to six feet strips of floor which once constituted their respective couches. The charm, somehow, did not work to bring large crowds or much profit to the prison exposition management. The ancient bastile was scarcely noticed during the World’s Fair. So now the energetic but disappointed city proposes to let it go. The land on which it stands is advertised for rent and it will probably soon be torn down and be replaced by a building more handsome to look at and of more festive associations.

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