Alton Illinois State Penitentiary - Alton, Illinois - Retired Prisons on Waymarking.com

Constructed in 1830-31 the Illinois State Penitentiary in Alton was persistently criticized for its unsanitary conditions by Dorothea Dix, a pioneer in prison reform. The prison was closed in 1860 when the last prisoners were transferred to the new state penitentiary in Joliet. With the advent of the Civil War, the prison was reopened as the Alton Federal Military Prison. The prison was used to incarcerate Confederate prisoners with the first prisoners to arrive February 9, 1862. Over the next three years over 11,764 Confederate prisoners would enter the prison. The conditions at the prison were harsh and deaths averaged six to ten a day. The prison was again closed July 7, 1865. Currently only one short stone wall of the prison remain on site.
 

Address: Broadway and Williams Streets Alton, Illinois Open to the public: Yes Hours: Open area, common sense and good manners all you need Fees?: 0 Web link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   11/02/2013 wildernessmama visited it 09/26/2006 YoSam. visited it

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