Charles St Jail History

For Tuesday’s third and final Twilight Talk presented by Historic New England and the Victorian Society in America/New England Chapter at the Harrison Gray Otis House, award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist Joseph McMaster recounted the history of the Charles Street Jail, from its origins as a state-of-the-art facility through its decline and eventual rebirth as a luxury hotel.

McMaster, who penned the recently published book “Charles Street Jail,” discovered the building while living in Beacon Hill in the late ‘80s and commuted to Harvard Square for work on the MBTA Red Line. “I didn’t even know it was a jail,” he admitted.