Old Idaho Penitentiary

From 1872 to 1973, the Old Idaho Penitentiary State Historic Site in the western part of the country, to the east of Boise, Idaho, served as a working jail. The first structure, sometimes referred to as the Territorial Prison, was erected in the Territory of Idaho in 1870; the territory had just been established for seven years at the time, which was more than two decades before statehood.

The prison expanded from its humble origins as a solitary cell house to become a complex of numerous eye-catching structures encircled by a 17-foot (5.2 m) high sandstone wall. The local prisoners, who also helped with later buildings, quarried the stone from the neighboring ridges.

The Multipurpose Building (1923), which was constructed by convicts, held the community baths and operated as a shirt factory, shoe store, bakery, license plate shop, laundry, hobby room, and loafing room. Prisoners were once hanged in the location now known as the Rose Garden. Six of the 10 executions that took place at the Old State Penitentiary took place here.

Google rating: 4.7/5.0
Location: 2445 Old Penitentiary Rd, Boise, ID 83712,
Phone: +1 208-334-2844
Website: https://history.idaho.gov/oldpen/