Post by Tomspy77 on Jan 10, 2013 19:08:21 GMT -6
www.rawlinstimes.com/opinion/article_139f7ebc-5ae7-11e2-bd79-0019bb2963f4.html
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The Old Wyoming State Penitentiary is a pleasantly stark example of late 19th-century frontier architecture. It is also a pleasant reminder never to get sent to prison. As one who used to work there, I know that better than most.
It is pretty creepy in there.
Rawlins people from coast to coast are gearing up for Friday’s episode of “Ghost Adventures,” a show on The Travel Channel which will focus on what many now call Wyoming’s Frontier Prison.
Built out of pure western manliness, the prison’s cornerstone was laid in 1888 – nearly two years before Wyoming became a state. Funding shortages and bad weather kept the state from relocating prisoners from the facility in Laramie for 13 years.
In late 1901, the first prisoners moved in to the State of Wyoming’s first gated community. What the prison lacked in hot water, it more than made up for in concrete beds and inadequate heating.
Of course, the prison eventually got hot water – in 1979, about two years before it was closed and the inmates relocated.
Spanning eight decades, the prison was home to about 13,500 inmates – though few could ever have dreamed it would one day become one of southern Wyoming’s biggest tourist attractions.
Surely none of them would have believed people would pay money to get hilarious family photos sitting in its gas chamber, to buy inmate-made souvenirs from its gift shop or that it would be the subject of television or movies.
That’s right – movies.
Twenty-five years ago this May, the Old Pen made its big-screen debut as Creedmore Prison in “Prison,” one of the best bad movies ever made. It was directed by Renny Harlin who, among other projects, went on to direct “Die Hard 2” and two seasons of “Burn Notice.”"
"
The Old Wyoming State Penitentiary is a pleasantly stark example of late 19th-century frontier architecture. It is also a pleasant reminder never to get sent to prison. As one who used to work there, I know that better than most.
It is pretty creepy in there.
Rawlins people from coast to coast are gearing up for Friday’s episode of “Ghost Adventures,” a show on The Travel Channel which will focus on what many now call Wyoming’s Frontier Prison.
Built out of pure western manliness, the prison’s cornerstone was laid in 1888 – nearly two years before Wyoming became a state. Funding shortages and bad weather kept the state from relocating prisoners from the facility in Laramie for 13 years.
In late 1901, the first prisoners moved in to the State of Wyoming’s first gated community. What the prison lacked in hot water, it more than made up for in concrete beds and inadequate heating.
Of course, the prison eventually got hot water – in 1979, about two years before it was closed and the inmates relocated.
Spanning eight decades, the prison was home to about 13,500 inmates – though few could ever have dreamed it would one day become one of southern Wyoming’s biggest tourist attractions.
Surely none of them would have believed people would pay money to get hilarious family photos sitting in its gas chamber, to buy inmate-made souvenirs from its gift shop or that it would be the subject of television or movies.
That’s right – movies.
Twenty-five years ago this May, the Old Pen made its big-screen debut as Creedmore Prison in “Prison,” one of the best bad movies ever made. It was directed by Renny Harlin who, among other projects, went on to direct “Die Hard 2” and two seasons of “Burn Notice.”"
