A Very Brief History Of The Yuma Territorial Prison

A cement mixer collided with a prison van on the Kingston pass. Motorists are asked to be on the lookout for 16 hardened criminals, (Ronnie Corbett). The Yuma Territorial prison today, allows people to examine the functions of different parts of the prison, the type of criminals that were housed within the prison and how constructions affected the population. The Yuma Territorial prison was a former prison located in Yuma, Arizona, United States. (The Yuma Territorial prison is a unoccupied prison located in Yuma, Arizona that has since been retired as a functional unit) The prison was founded in 1876 to house the most formidable and dangerous prisoners and later became a historical landmark. The prison was significant because the artifacts

The prison looks like a medieval fortress with eighteen feet high and eight feet thick walls. Each corner of the prison had a guard with weapons to make sure no one escapes. In the inside of the prison consisted the main cell block, prisoners ness ball. On the west side of the prison is the door to go out known as the Sally Port. The prison was humanely administered, and was a model institution for its time. The only punishments were the dark cells for inmates who broke prison regulations, and the ball and chain for those who tried to escape. Prisoners also had regular medical attention, and access to a good hospital. The prison was known for its strict rules. Those who broke them could be forced to wear the “ball and chain“ usually for those who tried to escape, and more serious offenders would be sent to the dark cell, a 10-foot by 10-foot room used for solitary confinement, where prisoners were chained to the stone floor as a punishment. The only light came from a small ventilation shaft in the ceiling and contact with other people was forbidden. Bread and water were given once a day and prisoners were stripped to their undergarments.While no records ever mention that a prisoner died while incarcerated in the “dark cell,” the prison reports do state that at least two prisoners did leave the cell, only to be transferred immediately to a mental institution in Phoenix. The prison did not only have building that were very important the most important item in the building was a bell. This bell was cast by WT GArratts Brass and BEll Foundry in San Francisco, CAlifornia, Where It in 1875(Bob Foster). The bell purpose was was to sound an alarm of escape. When this bell rang you can hear the ringing of the bell from many miles away alerting the townspeople of Yuma of an escape. Even though the prison was seen as a hell hole to prisoners, in our eyes it was a building that changed