Sometimes you don’t have to travel far to find a place that is very interesting. Such was the case for us, recently. We traveled to Jefferson City, Missouri, which is only 30 miles from our home, to visit the historic Missouri State Penitentiary. I have lived in Missouri practically all my life, but when we toured the State Pen, we discovered much information that we did not previously know.
Missouri State Penitentiary
These are a few of the facts that you will hear while on tour. The Missouri State Penitentiary was the longest operating prison in the United States (1836 to 2004). At one time (in the mid-1800s) it housed over 5,000 prisoners. James Earl Ray, Sonny Liston, and Pretty Boy Floyd are some of the most infamous prisoners that were incarcerated there. Also included in the tour is a visit to the gas chamber where 40 individuals were executed between 1937 and 1989.
Not only do you get to see the prison as it was (one building was built in 1868), but perhaps the most interesting aspect is the tour guide. You may get a former prison guard or even a former prisoner as your tour guide. This is quite different from the college student tour guides leading tours at some attractions. For our tour, we had a former warden. He had an intimate knowledge of the prison and he provided a number of fascinating stories. Also while on the 2 hour tour, he made himself available for questions. Two-hour tours, in-depth three-hour tours, ghost tours, and private tours are all available for online booking.
Prison Brews
After couple hours on the tour, one can get pretty hungry. We traveled a few blocks from the prison to Prison Brews, a thematic restaurant. Prison Brews is a micro-brewery with a basic American menu. As we sat in our “cell” (our booth), we enjoyed the decor, ordered, and soon received our food. Generally speaking, the food was good. We did have an issue with one prison meal (the pork loin) being under cooked. We contacted our guard (server) who got a hold of the warden (manager). He apologized and did not charge us for that meal. We did not check out the brews as we do not imbibe. You’ll have to check that out for yourself.
Missouri State Penitentiary Museum
To round out the days events, we visited the Missouri State Penitentiary museum located on the bottom floor of the house that had served as the warden’s home in the past. The house is conveniently located across the street from the penitentiary. In addition to going over the history of the penitentiary, the newly opened (2013) museum displays a lot of memorabilia from the prison. It is not a very large museum so only takes about half an hour of your time but is worth the visit. It is very inexpensive at $2/person and free for those who had a penitentiary tour that day.
If you are looking to take a day trip in Missouri, a trip to “The Bloodiest 47 Acres in America” is well worth the time.