This day has turned cold and cloudy, threatening rain but never following through on the threat. We didn’t really want to sit around and do nothing so we explored the Old Penitentiary.
The Territorial Prison building was built in 1870 and added to over the years as the need for the prison increased. At one point they were hoping that crime would go down but that did not happen. They added buildings in1889, 1894,1898, then it jumps to the 1920’s, and then in the 1950’s. The prison was closed shortly after several of the buildings were burned during an inmate riot in 1973. 14 buildings are still standing.
Some of the more infamous inmates had their pictures and stories in the cells or buildings. We saw a hanging room, the Women’s Ward, an extensive weapons collection, the old Laundry and shirt factory building and lots of cells. One 1928 building had 5 tiers of cells, each cell no bigger than 6 X 10 feet and each cell held 2 prisoners. Pretty creepy.
On a lighter note we visited The Boise Depot and the Big Mike steam engine. The Depot was opened in 1925 and has a commanding view of the city skyline. Big Mike is a Mikado Locomotive that was an all-purpose freight engine on the Union Pacific’s main line from North Platte, NE to Fruitland, ID.
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