This is the second in my
Joliet History series. When people think of Joliet, IL usaly one
thing will come to people's mind. The old Joliet Prison. This
prison made of Joliet Limstone was built in 1858. The prison was
buildt with convict labor at a total cost of $75,000 and had space
for 761 inmates. The prison was built where it was because the
limestone used to make it was quarried directly from the site. The
limestone buildings were designed by William W. Boyington. He also
designed the Chicago Water Tower, the Hegeler Carus Mansion, and
the Illinois State Capitol building in Springfield. At the time of
construction, it was the largest prison in the country and its
design became a model for United States prisons.
The first 33 inmates
arrived in May 1858. Both criminal prisoners and prisoners of war
were kept there during the Civil War. By 1872 the population had
reached 1,239, a record number for a single prison. From the 1870s
the prison had work contracts with local businesses.
The prison was slow to
modernize. There was no running water or toilets in the cells in
1910. The construction of the nearby Stateville Correctional Center
begun in 1917 and opened in March 1925 was meant to lead to the
swift closure of Joliet. This did not happen, and both prisons
operated simultaneously for the rest of the 20th
Century.
A women's prison was
added across the road from the main structures in 1896 but closed
in 1932 when the female prison in Dwight, Illinois was opened. It
then became an annex for the male prison and later the male
reception unit for northern Illinois.
The number of inmates
peaked at 1,300 in 1990 and was still 1,156 in 2000, although
capacity had been raised to 1,300 over 1999–2000, from 1,180
previously. In 2000 there were 541 staff.
The prison has also
been seen in teh TV show Prison Break and movies such as, Lets go
to Jail, Derailed, the upcoming release Public Enimeies, and most
notabel the opening sequence of the Blues Brothers.
For this cache you are
hutning for a nano magnetically stuck to something near by. You
will actully not be walking up to the prison itself. This is not
yot your normal black nano. Happy Hunting.
