Old Idaho State Penitentiary – The Paths of Discovery

June 4, 2021

Inmates partnered with Jackson and Perkins Company to test rose varieties.

Guard tower. Prisoners quarried the sandstone and built the walls and buildings.

Several buildings were burned in a riot over prison conditions in 1973.

This was the dining hall. It was designed by an inmate.

This was the cooler which held up to four inmates per cell.

It looks as if padlocks were used to secure cell doors.

This sign is at the entrance to the prison laundry.

Washing machines

The mangle was used to wring water from wet laundry.

Rear of the mangle

Belt drives allowed multiple machines to run from one power source.

This cell house was built in 1954.

Guards could survey prisoners from hallways between rows of cells.

The guards’ peephole is over the toilet and sink.

Some inmates decorated their cells.

Cell on death row

J. Curtis Earl collected historic weaponry from the Bronze Age to the present and gave his collection to the Penitentiary.

Exhibit entrance

Example of displays in the exhibit

Categories: Travel

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