engineering

Old York Gaol

Old York Gaol is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Old York Gaol rather than just read about it. In short: The Old York Gaol is a former colonial prison at Lindsay Road and Main Street (United States Route 1A) in York, Maine. Its oldest portion dating to about 1720, it is one of the oldest prison buildings in the United States, and one of the oldest public buildings in the state of Maine.

Key takeaways

Old York Gaol belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Old York Gaol to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Old York Gaol from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Old York Gaol is a former colonial prison at Lindsay Road and Main Street (United States Route 1A) in York, Maine. Its oldest portion dating to about 1720, it is one of the oldest prison buildings in the United States, and one of the oldest public buildings in the state of Maine. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968. It is owned by the Museums of Old York and is open for tours between May and October.

Description and history The gaol is a largely wood frame structure that has had a long evolutionary history of growth and change, and presently appears as a 1-1/2 story gambrel-roofed structure that is partial clapboarded, with sections of stone wall. The oldest portion of the building, dating to 1719 or 1720, is a stone cell block containing a single cell, with stone walls 2.5 feet (0.76 m) thick lined on the inside with oak planking. About 1736 several first-floor chambers were added, including a kitchen, dining room, and parlor space that has a folding partition wall (added late in the 19th century), so that it be divided into two separate rooms. In c. 1763 the second floor was added, with three cells and a central chamber. One of the cells, surmised to be intended for use as a debtor's cell or warden's room, is of noticeably finer quality. Around the turn of the 19th century a second stone cell was added to the first floor, along with an extension including a dining room, parlor, and bedchamber for the warden. The original portion of the jail was constructed using timbers from the earlier York jail built in 1656. The building served as the official provincial jail for York County (then part of Massachusetts) until 1760, when it was turned over to the town of York. The building's last major enlargement was made in response to a demand for better conditions in debtor's prisons after an increase in debtors following the American Revolution. After 1879 the building was used as a school, warehouse, and boarding house until 1900 when it opened as a colonial museum of relics. The Old Gaol continues to be a museum and reflects the jail and jailer's quarters as they were in 1789.

See also List of National Historic Landmarks in Maine List of the oldest buildings in Maine National Register of Historic Places listings in York County, Maine

References

External links Museums of Old York web site

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Old York Gaol

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Old York Gaol claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Old York Gaol before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Old York Gaol ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Old York Gaol

In research: Old York Gaol appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Old York Gaol in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Old York Gaol is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1719 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, Buildings and structures completed in 1719, Buildings and structures in York, Maine, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Old York Gaol outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Old York Gaol in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Old York Gaol means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Old York Gaol out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Old York Gaol in simple terms?

Why does Old York Gaol matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Old York Gaol?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Old York Gaol.