No crimes were committed.
Ha, ha! Quite simply. We drove.
On Saturday October 1st I took the girls and a couple of our dear
friends to tour the Old Idaho Penitentiary.
It was the fourth time I've been since we moved to Boise in 1974 but it
had been so long since I'd been the last time it was like a whole new adventure
once again.
From the outside it looks pretty darn fancy for a prison. But inside tells a whole different story. The architecture on the exterior of the
buildings and the prison walls is quite lovely, however.
Three tiers of cells reside inside this building |
Four inmates shared this cell |
Interiors, not so much. A
lot of the prison, which began in 1872 as a federal territorial prison, was
built by the prisoners out of sandstone from a nearby quarry. Quite the labor force, I imagine, which saved
a ton of money on the cost to build the place.
It became the state prison once Idaho took statehood soon after.
Weapons made by prisoners and confiscated out in the yard |
Guards room on one of the tiers |
As we toured the facilities it is quite obvious that as time went
on and the prison was added onto conditions did improve somewhat and they made
the cells larger. Even still, it was
quite cramped quarters and wouldn't be very pleasant, especially in the cold of
winter and heat of summer. Heating was
iffy and cooling was pretty much nonexistent in most of these buildings.
As we walked along my youngest remarked that visiting this place
was really good incentive not to break the law and get in trouble. I couldn’t agree more.
Death row |
Death row and the gallows where prisoners were executed is located
in the maximum security building. Hanging
was the method of execution in Idaho up until 1957 when the federal government
placed a moratorium on all executions. As
a result of that ruling his new gallows only executed one prisoner.
Inside the witness room for executions |
Notice the trapdoor in the floor and the lever |
A noose would be suspended from the ceiling |
This is where the hanging prisoner was retrieved after his execution |
When the moratorium was lifted in 1972 hanging was no longer an
option in Idaho for executions. Firing
squad became the new method but was never used.
Now lethal injection remains the only option. Idaho has never executed a woman.
Dairy barn |
Horse stables |
The cannery |
Gardens |
Model prisoners, or trustys, were allowed to work the farm. I found that part of the prison to be exceptionally nice. I love the dairy barn built in 1920 and the stable which was built in 1911. The old farmland is now the Idaho Botanical Gardens which we'll go see another time. Even the outbuildings are pretty nice.
They’ve added two new museums to the place since I was here last
too. The weapons museum is really neat
and is located inside the prison grounds.
The displays were amazing as well as the collection of guns, rifles,
swords, etc. We were all quite
fascinated.
Along with the weapons museum they've add a mineral and geology
museum so we checked it out too. At the
gift shop the girls each picked out a set of magnetic rocks. I couldn't believe they chose them over the
pretty bracelets, but they are a lot of fun.
In 1920 the women's ward was added just outside the main prison
walls. To read some of the offenses
committed by some of these women made the men look rather tame by comparison.
Guards dormitory |
Bishops house |
Warden's House |
Just outside of the prison is the Guard's dormitory which is now
office space. The Bishops house which is
absolutely lovely is used now for events, primarily weddings and receptions,
and the Warden's house. Again, really
beautiful architecture.
The prison closed its doors in 1973 and the inmates were moved to
the new modern correctional center located outside of Boise. By comparison they look nothing alike. The new prison looks like a typical modern
day concrete slab prison.
Easily you could spend an entire day out here and not see
everything, which is probably why I've been so many times. I find it and all of its history rather
fascinating. My youngest did too so I
checked out a book at the library for us to read so we can get a little more
in-depth information.
We love to visit museums and historical places.
I wonder who would have a wedding at the event center....
ReplyDeleteThank you for Sharing!!
Seriously, I know. But it is a very popular venue. Personally, I wouldn't.
DeleteSuper interesting photos/post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Geneva!
Delete