| Idaho State Penitentiary
is one of only four in the US which have been turned into museums. The
inmates revolted and burned several buildings in 1975. Shortly afterwards a
new prison was opened outside the city. |  |
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The architecture of an ornate front and very simple rear is very common in
the US, particularly in the west. |
| One of the cell blocks
was for isolation punishment. Cells about 8ft x 6ft with nothing inside and
not even any light once the doors were closed. Food was put in through a
three inch slot. The whole block was heated (or not) by this radiator.
Sometimes people were in there for months on end. It is hard to believe that
this was still happening in 1975. |  |
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They tried various things to occupy the inmates but the local businesses
complained about the competition. This was a laundry and they cleaned
clothes for the local military base. |
| This impressive machine
was a mangle for sheets. All the machines were powered via belts from a
single 440V motor in the eaves. |  |
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One of the buildings housed a small museum of weapons from the civil war to
the present day. |
| Well perhaps some of them
predated the civil war. There were even some curved Indian swords. |  |
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For some reason the Gatling gun captures everybody's imagination. |
| Some of the old muskets
were as likely to kill you as anybody else. The rate of fire by an expert
was about 3 shots a minute. |  |
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This was a novel weapon. It was a crossbow which fired a bullet. Trust the
English to invent something like this. |
| Back to the main prison
tour. This is where the prisoners were kept. four to a cell with two bunks
on each side, a common sink and toilet. |  |
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They do say that the devil makes work for idle hands. There are some
seriously nasty weapons in this collection. |
| Not all the buildings
were open. Again we have the stone front and the simple block rear. The
entrance to the prison was via the blue tunnel. This was a much later
addition to the prison. |  |
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In the prison governor's office was a walk in safe where all the records of
the inmates were held. It looks more appropriate for a bank. |
| Just outside the prison
is the governor's mansion. Today it is used for offices and we couldn't go
round. |  |
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