America’s abandoned prisons and crumbling correctional facilities tell a sobering and sometimes chilling story of the way people have been incarcerated throughout the centuries – often in harsh, cramped conditions and for crimes that no longer exist. From so-called ‘squirrel cage jails’, where tiny cells were rotated using a carousel system, to spooky cell blocks said to be haunted by the ghosts of former inmates and wardens, here are the eeriest abandoned prisons around the US.
When Wyoming’s first state penitentiary opened in 1901, the 104 cells had no electricity, no running water and scant heating. The first inmates arrived at the prison, which was built using local sandstone, from Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie, which closed in the early 1900s. Around 13,500 people were incarcerated during the prison’s 80 years of operation, among them 11 women who served their time in a separate ward. Overcrowding was a constant issue, barely eased by the addition of extra cell blocks through the decades.
A maximum-security block, added in 1966, was reserved for those considered to need serious discipline. A total of 250 people died during the prison’s operation. The majority of these took their own lives, were victims of inmate violence or died of natural causes – but 14 were executed by gallows and, later, in a gas chamber.
Fascinating inmates included Annie Bruce, who killed her father with a strychnine-laced plum pie in 1907, and Henry Edmundson, eventually pardoned by the governor because his behaviour was so bad he wanted him out of the state. Now, tours take visitors down cell-lined corridors and around grounds including the prison cemetery, while telling tales of prison escapes and the 1912 uprising, when inmates set fire to the broom factory in protest at poor conditions. Check here for updates and for the winter tour schedule.
This isolated former prison is located on the beautifully named Pea Patch Island on the Delaware River, and was originally built during the Civil War in 1859 as a Union fortress. Its use switched as captured Confederate soldiers were imprisoned within its grey stone walls. Close to 13,000 people were locked within the fort at any one time. The island was briefly manned during both World Wars before being abandoned in 1944, with ownership transferred back to the state.
Fort Delaware has been a state park since 1951 and its marshes provide summer habitat to various species of wading birds including herons and ibis, with nature trails and viewing platforms. More creepily, it’s said that the fortress also harbours some spectral residents, with paranormal tours offered alongside reconstructions and demonstrations of what life may have been like during the Civil War. The remote location, surrounded by water and accessible only via ferry, adds to the creepiness.
This grand, Gothic-style former prison could almost pass for a castle or mansion, with its imposing exterior adorned with turrets and battlements. But the truth is far less glamorous. West Virginia Penitentiary opened in the 1860s and was intended to mirror the prison in Joliet, Illinois. Inmates were crammed into tiny cells that measured five by seven feet (1.5 by 2.1m) and sometimes occupied three prisoners each. More chillingly, inmate Paul Glenn was made to build the prison’s electric chair, dubbed ‘Old Sparky’.
Close to 100 people were condemned to death, either via the chair or by forced hanging. Unsurprisingly, the prison’s tough, cramped and often brutal conditions – not to mention the high number of death penalty inmates – earned it a reputation as one of the harshest correctional facilities in the US. Most prisoners had been convicted of serious crimes, with the most feared inmates locked up on the north side, dubbed ‘The Alamo’.
During a riot in 1973, prisoners held hostages and set fire to the prison basement. Another, in 1986, saw 20 inmates storm the cafeteria in protest at poor conditions. Following years saw a series of high-profile breakouts. The prison was closed in 1995 after a court order ruled that the conditions were inhumane. The historic site now runs history tours, with day and (far creepier) nighttime options, as well as escape room events and ghost walks.
Missouri’s infamous maximum-security facility was the oldest continuously operating prison west of the Mississippi, described by Time magazine as “the bloodiest 47 acres in America”. The prison operated from 1836 until finally being decommissioned in 2004, and within that time there were riots, escapes, violent attacks and executions. In 1937 a bill was passed in the state allowing execution by lethal gas. A total of 40 men and women were put to death in the gas chamber here until capital punishment inmates were moved to a new prison.
Among infamous former inmates are James Earl Ray, convicted of assassinating Martin Luther King Jr., and John B. ‘Firebug’ Johnson, who earned his nickname by starting a fire that killed several inmates. Charles ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd served time here for his first offence, a robbery, and went on to commit several murders, becoming one of the country’s most wanted. Charles ‘Sonny’ Liston arrived in 1950 having been convicted of robbery and, having learned to box while inside, won the National Heavyweight Championship in Chicago in 1953.
The building, by the Missouri River, is now a landmark in downtown Jefferson City with a series of tours shedding light on its dark past – and, according to some, ghostly goings-on. Visitors can see the yards, tiny cells, housing units and, most chillingly, the gas chamber. There’s also an old cell block dating back to the Civil War, buried and forgotten for more than a century until being unearthed during some construction work in 1985.
The Ohio State Reformatory was forced to clang its doors shut for a final time in 1990, after 94 years in operation, when a federal court order ruled inmates were kept under brutalising and inhumane conditions. That, alone, is enough to send shivers down the spine. Learning more about some of the atrocities and tragedies that took place here is even more horrific.
Incidents over the years include the murder of a prisoner by his cellmate, who stuffed his victim’s body under a bunk, the 1950 death of a warden’s wife and the warden’s own death, of a heart attack, years later. Some believe the former prison is haunted by the couple, with people reporting hearing whispered conversations echoing around the cell blocks.
The building itself is a beautiful, castle-like example of Romanesque architecture that belies what occurred beyond its turrets, archways and high-pitched roofs. It’s most famous for featuring in some scenes of 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption. Tours focus on the film’s locations, including graffiti that was added to cells, as well as taking in the prison’s crumbling chapel, staff quarters and exercise yard, and showcasing wooden furniture crafted by inmates. Love this? Check out these abandoned underground attractions.
One of San Francisco’s most popular attractions is also one of its most chilling – and perhaps the most notorious of all the country’s former prisons. The island fortress of Alcatraz was built in the 1850s by the US army and originally held political and military prisoners. The inmates were forced to build a new facility that eventually became a federal prison in 1933. And no detail was spared in the design when it came to intensifying the torment of those incarcerated in ‘The Rock’, as it became known.
The cells reserved for the ‘worst’ criminals, for example, were positioned just so to expose the inmates to biting winds and offer a tantalising, torturous glimpse of the mainland. Despite the prison’s supposedly inescapable nature, three-dozen prisoners took part in 14 escape attempts, with three actually succeeding in 1962. The island’s most notorious inmates included George ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly, Al Capone and the ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’ Robert Stroud, who wrote two books on canaries after being allowed to care for the birds in his cell.
Alcatraz ceased operating as a prison in 1963 because it was too expensive to run. Six years later it was occupied by the Indians of All Tribes, who took over the island for 19 months in the name of freedom and Native American civil rights. It’s now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, with atmospheric, spooky tours voiced by former prison guards, full of tales of riots and stabbings in the dining hall.
Notorious outlaw Butch Cassidy is among the ‘wild west’ criminals to have been imprisoned within the stone walls of Wyoming Territorial Prison, which opened as a federal facility in 1872 before becoming the state penitentiary in 1890. It was known as ‘the big house across the river’ though the harsh conditions meant those living there weren’t exactly made to feel at home. Striped-uniformed inmates, identified only by number, were required to be silent at all times and undertake hard labour.
The prison closed in 1903 and became a research facility for the University of Wyoming, eventually being restored as a museum and state park in 1990. Self-guided tours allow visitors to peek inside the infirmary, women inmates’ quarters and cells – both bare and furnished – as well as wandering around the eerily echoey dining hall. There’s also an exhibition of artefacts uncovered during the restoration, including bail bonds and photographs of convicts.
Yuma is officially the sunniest place on earth so it must have been particularly torturous for those locked in the tiny, airless cells of Yuma Territorial Prison. The first prisoners, incarcerated in July 1876, were even made to build their own cells – during a searing Sonoran Desert summer. Though it was held up as a model example of a prison for its time, punishments were harsh by modern standards.
Those who broke prison rules were kept in a dark, solitary cell, while those who attempted to escape were attached to a ball and chain. There was further controversy over the incarceration of nine Mormon leaders, convicted under a law that make ‘unlawful cohabitation’ a felony. Many felt the convictions, in the 1880s, were tantamount to religious persecution and that the otherwise upstanding men didn’t belong with the more ‘hardened’ criminals.
The last prisoners were moved elsewhere in 1909 and now the buildings, including adobe structures, are part of Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park, comprising a museum that gives a fascinating insight into 19th-century prison life. Visitors can peer into the iron-barred cells, some of which held six prisoners at a time, and the stifling solitary chamber, and view photographs of former inmates. Read on to discover the world's eeriest abandoned towns and cities.
Now a dedicated historic site, this former prison is almost as old as Idaho itself – it opened in 1872, nine years after the territory was founded and 18 years before it officially became a state. And Old Idaho Penitentiary has seen plenty of grim history over its 101 years. The 13,000-plus inmates over the century included women kept in a cell house in the main yard, death row prisoners sent to the gallows, and people forced to stay in cramped, dark cells in solitary confinement.
The building itself has a fascinating history, with parts including the prison wall and guard towers built by prisoners using sandstone quarried on Table Rock, just above the prison. The facility closed in 1973 and is now a museum with exhibits spread across its 30 buildings, including photographs and inmates’ craftwork from leather pieces to wooden furniture.
Formerly known as Pottawattamie County Jail (there’s now a newer, still-operating facility), this old Iowa prison is a rare surviving examples of a ‘squirrel cage’ jail – named for its archaic revolving jail cells designed like a turntable. The patented design meant a jailer could rotate the three-storey block by turning a hand crank, moving the pie-shaped cells and their residents in the process.
The idea was to minimise contact between guards and prisoners (and prisoners with each other) while also giving prison staff extra control. Effectively, the 60-odd inmates were confined unless the guard saw fit to crank their cell to the doorway. The Council Bluffs jail was constructed in 1885 and operated until 1969, when it was closed by the county.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, its eventual closure was due to safety concerns around the revolving door system. It’s now listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of three such penal structures remaining – the others are in Gallatin, Missouri and Crawfordsville, Indiana. It was also the only of the original 18 squirrel cage jails to be built over three storeys. The strange old prison now has tours where people can see the (no longer functional) rotating cell block and peer at inmates’ signatures and dates carved into the walls.
Built by Quakers in 1829, Eastern State Penitentiary, or ESP, was then the most expensive prison in the world. It’s also considered to have been the first true ‘penitentiary’, focused on inspiring its inmates to feel penitence or regret. It’s easy to see how these surroundings might: the Gothic-style structure, guarded by menacing gargoyles, has crumbled around its cold edges, while the tiny cells hint at the achingly lonely conditions prisoners were kept under.
Quakers believed that solitary confinement and inward reflection were the best ways to serve penance, and ESP became the first prison to implement solitary confinement. It was the norm, in fact, with inmates kept in cells with high-vaulted skylights until 1913, when overcrowding made that impossible. A famed inmate was gangster Al Capone, whose cell (pictured) was rather better appointed than most when he spent nine months here in 1929. It’s said that, since the prison closed in 1971, those who endured harsher conditions have returned to haunt the corridors.
The former prison reopened as a museum in 1994 and now offers daytime tours with audio accompaniment voiced by actor Steve Buscemi, who lends a suitably spooky gravitas to the commentary. For those who want to view the place at its absolute eeriest, nighttime walks take visitors down the echoing corridors and allow them to peek into the haunting cells. There are usually Halloween-themed special tours, too – if the building’s history isn’t chilling enough.
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