When I originally placed
Joliet History #2 I knew a park would eventually be built. Well it
was built and the container finally gave out. So I wanted to get
people closer to the location at hand. So here it is in #2B.
This is the second (redux) in my Joliet History series. When people
think of Joliet, IL usually one thing will come to people's mind.
The old Joliet Prison. This prison made of Joliet Limestone was
built in 1858. The prison was built 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 and 2000, from 1,180
previously. In 2000 there were 541 staff.
The prison has also
been seen in the TV show Prison Break and movies such as, Lets go
to Jail, Derailed, Public Enemies, and most notable the opening
sequence of the Blues Brothers.
For this cache you are
hunting for a GOJAC seed cache. Happy Hunting.
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