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The Importance Of The Yuma Territorial Prison

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The city of Yuma, Arizona is not a city that catches tourists eyes a lot, but every once in a while it does and one of the reasons people notice Yuma is because of the Yuma Territorial Prison. The Yuma Territorial Prison has been through thick and thin and is still standing today, a century and a half later(Murphy 1). The prison is no longer functioning, but it still manages to lure people in, not by breaking the law, but by its historical significance. The prison is unique in design and the impact it has had not just in Yuma, but in Arizona as a whole. The Yuma Territorial Prison today, as a museum, allows people to examine the design of the prison and how it reflects the time and place it was built, the negative effects the prison has caused …show more content…

B. Kelly, thought that it would help boost the city’s economy. Another reason why the prison was built in Yuma was because the location would have been perfect. Since the Gila River was on the east of where they planned on building and the Colorado was North, with Yuma to the West it discouraged prisoners from escaping. The fact that the prison would be 170 miles away from San Diego, California and 220 miles away from Tucson, Arizona (Zlateuski web) even the thought of prisoners escaping would be highly unlikely. Lastly, Yuma’s weather was miserable there was nothing but dry heat for most of the …show more content…

The prison hasn’t just been used to provide a building, but its been used for it’s material and has been slowly torn apart. Piece by piece through time, parts of the prison have been torn down. In 1916, there was a flood in Yuma and what the townspeople used to rebuild were parts from the prison (Murphy 1). In order for the Southern Pacific Railroad to be built the western walls and the woman's cells had to be destroyed in 1923 (The Yuma Territorial Prison). More destruction was made when the hospital in the prison and the Mes Hall were burned down in 1924 (The Yuma Territorial Prison). Some of the wreckage was made in order for Yuma to grow, but what they didn’t know was that they were losing parts of history as well. All that’s left from the prison is the main gate, the guard’s tower, and some cells along with the cemetary across the prison. With most of the prison gone today, there isn’t many sources to research about the prison. Most of the journals that people have kept during that time frame were probably burned from the fires or lost during the prison transport which is what makes the information that is currently at the prison so

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The Yuma Territorial Prison first opened in 1875 and is still standing after 141 years. For many years people in Yuma fought to keep this prison a historical landmark. After all the years, many things have occurred to change the structure of the prison. The Yuma Territorial Prison did not allow prisoners to do certain activities that could affect them after they were released. The Yuma Territorial Prison can teach people about the different functions, regulations that reflected laws in Arizona, and the changes in the appearance of the prison.

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Six inmates died from suicide, five from a work accident, two were murder from another inmate, and eight inmates died trying to escape and fatally shot by the guards trying to stop them from escaping. Fact about those eight people who died, they were counted as one of the one hundred and forty inmates that tried escaping and out of those one hundred and forty inmates, only twenty six were successful and escaped. Anyways, one prisoner was executed in the Yuma courtyard, and the rest were natural deaths, like disease, old age, tuberculosis, and many other reasons. ( Tuberculosis: The Real Killer

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Which would have been helpful because I would know when the inmates got to the prison. Another limitation of the sources I used was in Clark, Tina. “Yuma Territorial Prison.” Lecture, Yuma, AZ, January 8-9, 2018 sources was that she was very repetitive with her information. Which got confusing because when she repeated things sometimes she would change what she said the first time.

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How is the Yuma Territorial prison significant to the city of Yuma? How is the Yuma Territorial Prison significant to the Southwest region of the United States? Well, the Territorial Prison is significant to the city of Yuma and the Southwest region because the prison was the one thing that helped start to develop the houses and population of yuma. Also, the prison had helped influence and build some of the buildings in Yuma. After the prison closed down in 1909 it became a temporary school after a prison and after it was a school it became a museum which brought more people to yuma, like tourist because they wanted to see the prison.

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The Yuma Territorial Prison opened in 1875, but the first prisoners were not moved to the prison, in till 1876. Over three thousand prisoners sentences were served during the thirty three years the prison was operational. Yuma Territorial Prison was perceived throughout its many different roles as a luxury for the community of Yuma, Arizona. The community of Yuma,Arizona might think this because of the many benefits the prison gave the inmates and the town people .The prison also played many different roles other than just being a prison.

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The Yuma Territorial Prison was a prison that was used from 1876 to 1909 in the small town of Yuma. There was more prisons at the time but this one was different and better than the others. It was used in many other ways than just a prison such as a school and soon enough an Arizona State Park one of the most visited in the state. The Yuma Territorial Prison was and still is significant to the town of Yuma Arizona because it boosted the economy and advanced the town. It was significant because of how modern and humane it was in its time.

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The prison increased the population by 11.3% for yuma and it had brought the very first library. The construction process of the prison was by the prisoners themselves and they entered the cells they made on July 1, 1876. The rules of the punishment now don't seem as bad as how they were before, the dark cell was given to the prison who stole, disobeyed orders and talked back and refused to do anything, the dark cell was a 15 by 15 feet hole in a solid mound and very little sunlight entered through the top and prisoners that entered must be stripped to their underwear and sit their for a couple of days maybe weeks; They were cut off to all other prisoners and sometimes,according to the cell mates and ex-prisoners guarded would throw snakes and scorpions down the hole; many called it a snake den. After the prison closed it was used as a high school and also a hospital, at times other schools would make fun of the yuma high school and call them crim’s or criminals and ever since the name has stuck with them. The hospital was used then burned down years later but the prison itself was torn apart during the great depression because people scavenged for parts and within five years the whole prison wall was gone.

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During the Great Depression, the prison would harbor homeless people during the great depression. When Yuma was flooded, the local residents used materials from the prison to help rebuild the buildings. The taking of building material to aid Yuma, led to the downfall of the prison. Yuma Union High School used the prison for four years because the high schools building burned down. The Prison was used by the county hospital from 1914 to 1923.

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