AZ Territorial Prison - Yuma

On our way to vacation in Carlsbad we stopped in Yuma for lunch and to visit the Territorial Prison State Park.  Even though it was blazing hot, we enjoyed walking around "the yard" and checking out the cells and climbing up the main guard tower.  The museum was also well done with a nice video and several artifacts.  About half of the prison is gone from what it was when it closed in 1909 in favor of a newer, bigger prison in Florence.  Still very neat and would recommend.

One of the prison's innovations at the time was a specially-built mirror to capture the face and profile shot of the prisoner in one photograph.

                            

                         

              

                              

                 






Wish we could've got a photo, but one of the highlights was the "dark cell," which was carved into the rock and was a means of punishment.  It consisted of a floor-less cage in the middle of the pitch black cave.  Prisoners were only given bread and water and one hour of time out of the cell.  That's MM and JoJo climbing on the outer door of the "dark cell."