At New-Gate, officials built a guardhouse to heighten security, with the warden's quarters in the front and the back two sections descending to storage, cells, and the mine. Guarding prisoners was difficult and poorly paid, so guards and officials charged visitors fees to tour the grounds and underground tunnels. In 1811, the overseers recorded that no fewer than 450 people visited the prison. Curiosity about New-Gate continued after the prison and mine closed, and private owners operated the site as a tourist attraction in the 19th and early 20th centuries. After a fire destroyed part of the guardhouse in 1904, the building became a dance hall that hosted Saturday night dances throughout the early 1900s. As a private tourist attraction in the early 20th century, Old New-Gate also had a zoo with animals including bears and monkeys. Two monkeys escaped in 1933 but were captured and returned, and in 1949 public outrage arose over the treatment of the animals, including a bear cage described as about eleven feet square and empty except for a water trough.
