THE WALLS THE BLOODIEST 47 ACRES THE MISSOURI STATE PENITENTIARY The prison received its first inmate on the same day as the Battle of the Alamo - in 1836 40 inmates were executed, most of them in a gas chamber There have been reports of ghost sightings and paranormal activity in the prison Closed since 2004, the oldest prison west of the Mississippi River has become one of Missouris largest tourist attractions. At one point dubbed the bloodiest 47 acres in America, the Missouri State Penitentiary, in Jefferson City, MO., executed 40 people and had many inmates die in riots after it opened in 1836. Now a former prison guard takes people through the facility on guided tours. At its peak before closing in 2004, the prison housed over 5,200 inmates and once the largest in the country. The prison held 1,355 inmates when it was finally shuttered in 2004. Guided tours of the prison began soon after The Missouri State Penitentiary, also known as The Walls, was a prison in Jefferson City, Missouri that operated from 1836-2004. It was a prison of the Missouri Department of Corrections.[1] Prior to closing, it was the oldest operating penal facility west of the Mississippi River. It served as the State of Missouris primary maximum security institution. The current Jefferson City Correctional Center was opened on September 15, 2004, replacing the Missouri State Penitentiary. A-Hall MSP Warden Wyrick alt text MSP Warden Wyrick. Housing Unit A in background. In 1868 A-Hall, also known as Housing Unit A and Housing Unit 4, was finished. The building was constructed entirely of stone quarried on site and built mainly with inmate labor. Warden Horace Swift was the architect of the structure. It is still standing today, and housed inmates until the day the prison was closed. A museum was to be set up in this housing unit but has since been canceled due to a lack of funding. Executions On January 6, 1989, inmate George Tiny Mercer was executed. It was the last execution to take place at the Missouri State Penitentiary and the first execution by means of lethal injection. Death row Before April 1989, the State of Missouris male death row was located at the Missouri State Penitentiary. Death row inmates were held in a below-ground unit and were isolated from other inmates. Death row inmates did not leave their special death row facility, and all services were brought into the unit. Each death row inmate was allowed one hour of exercise per day in a fenced area next to the death row facility. Missouri Department of Corrections said, With restrictions on movement and limited access to programs, conditions of confinement for death row inmates mirrored those found in other states, and As with other states using prison facilities constructed before the turn of the [21st] century, conditions at Missouri State Penientiary were less than favorable for both death row inmates and staff. After a legal challenge, the Missouri Department of Corrections began to use an internal death row classification system with privileges awarded by behavior, changes in medical services delivery procedures, and a privacy room where death row inmates could attend religious services. Paranormal Activity Ever wondered what happens inside the walls of a 175+ year old prison in the dead of the night? Rumors have run rampant about the strange and unusual occurrences that occurred at the Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP) over the years. Apparition sightings, unexplainable sounds, ghastly stories; you’ll find them all at the decommissioned prison. In recent years, well over 100 organized paranormal investigations have taken place. Participants use scientific equipment to document and substantiate their experiences. Time after time stories emerge of inexplicable sightings at the prison once dubbed the “bloodiest 47 acres in America” by Time magazine due to the number of murders and assaults that took place there. Word has gotten out about the after-dark paranormal activity at the Missouri State Penitentiary. In 2011 the SyFy network’s hit television show Ghost Hunters came to explore the historic site. MSP was then featured in an hour-long episode titled “The Bloodiest 47 Acres.” Not long afterwards, the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures held one of their notorious lockdowns inside the walls of the decommissioned prison.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 09:00:16 +0000
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