Daily AncestorReform school
A reform school was an institution for young offenders, where teenagers were held and taught instead of being sent to an adult prison.
Reform schools grew in the United States in the 1800s out of concern about city poverty, immigration and vagrancy, and a shift from punishing young offenders to reforming them. Reformers objected that children kept with adult prisoners were exploited and learned crime.
Names changed over time. New York's Western House of Refuge became the State Industrial School, and in the 1930s younger boys from the New York House of Refuge moved to a state training school. Census pages headed with such names list the young residents as inmates.
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Daily Ancestor. "Reform school." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/poor-relief/reform-school. Last checked 2026-10-03.