The Bloodiest 47 Acres in America

That was the name given to Missouri State Penitentiary by Time Magazine in 1963. The prison first opened in March 1836, the same month and year The Alamo fell. The first prisoners were actually taken in before that date. They were tasked with building the prison around themselves. Bricks were manufactured and the stone quarried on site.

Saturday I went on a tour of this impressive and awful place. It was decommissioned in 2004. Part was torn down to make room for a new Federal Court House. According to our tour guide, Bill, hopefully they won't destroy anymore. I agree with him. This piece of history needs to be shared with as many people as possible.

The building you see at the top was originally the women's dormitory. It was built around 1904. Bill said it was a terrible place and the women had it much worse than the men. The youngest person to ever call that place home was only 4 months old. Later, after the women moved to a separate facility, it was renamed H-Hall and became the control center of the prison.

Those steal bars separated the free world from the world of incarceration. (Bill is in the red)

After walking through the doors we were greeted by, The Bubble. This was built to be the most secure area in the prison. It controlled the gates separating the two worlds. Here Bill tried to get us in the mindset of what it was like to be here. He should know he spent 30 years of his life behind the walls, as a guard.

In this most secure place in the prison you always had 4 people. 2 guards and 2 inmates. This little fact helped Bill illustrate what he sees as the most common misconception we have, you aren't locked up in prison. From about 5:30AM to 10:30PM the vast majority of the inmates were free to roam inside the walls.

After being emptied of prisoners on September 15, 2004 the gates were shut. In its day the paint was always fresh and the floors always swept. Time has been taking its toll.

They just walked out and left everything else behind.

The prison was a very violent place. Bill said there were and still are knives all over the place. During his time he would take 5 gallon buckets of knives to the Missouri River and toss them in. Inmates would have them hidden around were they worked, ate, hung out, showered, etc. After Bill first started he didn't really want to pat down the inmates. He was watching over the sewing factory and a pair of scissors came up missing. He thought he was going to be fired right there. His supervisor came down and started cutting open the cushions on the seats at the sewing machines. After cutting through a few he found a knife and after a few more another. He stopped and said to the inmates he knew they could make 2 knives out of the scissors so he took 2 of theirs.

On the roof right above Bill the mass escape attempt of 1954 was turned into the riot of 1954. Over 300 inmates overpowered killed and took the keys from several guards. On that roof a "friendly" exchange took place. An inmate below said to the guard with a shotgun, oh come on, you can't stop us. The response, "I will stop the first 8. Who wants to be first?" The escape attempt was abandoned.

I mentioned earlier that most inmates could walk around most of the day. Some were too dangerous to the others and had to be locked up the whole time. Their only hour of "freedom" was spent in these cages.

We made our way here. This was the oldest housing unit in the complex, built in 1868. Here Bill told more stories. Sonny Liston learned to box, a man murdered in cell 76 with his eyes gouged out, and a man that spent 18 years in the dungeon below the building.

This was an original cell door from 1868. It was around 4 feet high.

Back to the dungeon. For many years when Bill worked here he didn't think anything of the showers. They were down in a room under the floor. The stairs were in one end and open to the main hall. What he said he laughs at now is never realizing, they didn't have running water in 1868. Why would you build a pit in the middle of a cell block, solitary. Behind the shower walls was the real story.

This is the bottom of one of the original doors. Solid steel except for this small opening for food to be passed through. On the outside of this a wooden door. And at the top of the stairs another wooden covering over the stairwell. Guys would spend days locked up in complete darkness. One man actually spent 18 years in this hole coming out a couple times a month so he wouldn't be permanently blinded.

The last stop was the Gas Chamber. 40 people were put to death in this small building built by prisoners.

The handle to drop the cyanide tablets into the acid. Bill was very upfront about being very pro death penalty. He says he's talked to many prisoners that said to him they didn't do something because of the death penalty. However, he was very clear; the gas chamber is the most cruel wicked way anyone can die. It is too cruel to the person and too dangerous to the surroundings. Areas around the prison were evacuated when an execution took place.

One last item. Bill just came by work and reminded me of something. He spent 28 years working there. At first he hated it. He wanted to quit everyday. Over the years he became used to it, it became normal. Now, he looks back on it and realizes how far from normal it was. He could never go back to work in that environment.

The end of the line for me. I'll leave you with more pictures.