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Jerry Pillarelli | profile | all galleries >> Travel and Nature; Sites by State >> US Travel; by Trip, by State >> Montana >> Old Montana Prison – Montana tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Old Montana Prison – Montana

Images of Old Montana Prison – Western Montana, taken in July 2021.

I knew there was an old prison in Deer Lodge Montana but I had no intention of going to it until I drove by it on my way out of town after visiting the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historical Site. There it was, huge and looking like a castle from a Knights of the Round Table movie! I took pictures of the outside and the more I thought about it the more I wanted, no, needed to go inside. Twelve dollars allowed me to self-tour myself around the prison and there was an added benefit of being able to run through a 160-car auto museum to boot!

The Old Montana Prison was an interesting tour with some fascinating stories like the 1908 creation of the “jerk-up gallows” and how it was supposed to kill prisoners quickly but instead actually took over ten minutes each time it was used; and the story of the 1959 riot led by Jerry Myles and others who took hostages and how the National Guard fired a bazooka at the tower where the prisoners were holed up to end the 36-hour event…a bazooka!
Prison wall built in 1893 is 24 feet tall with an additional four feet underground and 3 to 4.5 feet thick in the Old Montana Pr
Prison wall built in 1893 is 24 feet tall with an additional four feet underground and 3 to 4.5 feet thick in the Old Montana Pr		 Water Tower outside the prison wall in the Old Montana Prison
Water Tower outside the prison wall in the Old Montana Prison		 Red brick Cell House within the walls of the prison in the Old Montana Prison
Red brick Cell House within the walls of the prison in the Old Montana Prison		 Looking into the prison from the outside in the Old Montana Prison
Looking into the prison from the outside in the Old Montana Prison		 Prison wall and Cell House in the Old Montana Prison
Prison wall and Cell House in the Old Montana Prison
Corner tower seen from inside in the Old Montana Prison
Corner tower seen from inside in the Old Montana Prison		 Tower 7 Entrance on Main Street as seen from inside the Old Montana Prison
Tower 7 Entrance on Main Street as seen from inside the Old Montana Prison		 Barbed wire coiled on top of the prison wall in the Old Montana Prison
Barbed wire coiled on top of the prison wall in the Old Montana Prison		 “Jerk-up Gallows” used to hang several prisoners in the Old Montana Prison
“Jerk-up Gallows” used to hang several prisoners in the Old Montana Prison		 Administration Building in the Old Montana Prison
Administration Building in the Old Montana Prison
Prison doctor and dentist services office in the Old Montana Prison
Prison doctor and dentist services office in the Old Montana Prison		 View from inside a cell in the Old Montana Prison
View from inside a cell in the Old Montana Prison		 Corner tower and the Cell House in the Old Montana Prison
Corner tower and the Cell House in the Old Montana Prison		 West Siberia isolation cells in the Old Montana Prison
West Siberia isolation cells in the Old Montana Prison		 Prison Yard in the Old Montana Prison
Prison Yard in the Old Montana Prison
Early Woman’s Prison (1907) and Maximum Security (1959) in the Old Montana Prison
Early Woman’s Prison (1907) and Maximum Security (1959) in the Old Montana Prison		 Guard Shack on the prison wall in the Old Montana Prison
Guard Shack on the prison wall in the Old Montana Prison		 Inside the Maximum Security area in the Old Montana Prison
Inside the Maximum Security area in the Old Montana Prison		 Tower damaged by a National Guard bazooka during the 1959 Riot in the Old Montana Prison
Tower damaged by a National Guard bazooka during the 1959 Riot in the Old Montana Prison		 W.A. Clark Theater across the prison yard in the Old Montana Prison
W.A. Clark Theater across the prison yard in the Old Montana Prison
Three story Cell Block in the Cell House in the Old Montana Prison
Three story Cell Block in the Cell House in the Old Montana Prison		 Two prisoner cell in the Cell Block in the Old Montana Prison
Two prisoner cell in the Cell Block in the Old Montana Prison		 Tunnel used to watch prisoners during meal time in the Old Montana Prison
Tunnel used to watch prisoners during meal time in the Old Montana Prison		 Single prisoner cell in the Cell Block in the Old Montana Prison
Single prisoner cell in the Cell Block in the Old Montana Prison		 A Black Box Cell, total isolation in the darkness, in the Old Montana Prison
A Black Box Cell, total isolation in the darkness, in the Old Montana Prison
Prison Mess Hall in the Old Montana Prison
Prison Mess Hall in the Old Montana Prison		 The Cell House viewed from across the Prison Yard in the Old Montana Prison
The Cell House viewed from across the Prison Yard in the Old Montana Prison		 Flat Bar Cells originally built for brigs of ships at the Old Montana Prison
Flat Bar Cells originally built for brigs of ships at the Old Montana Prison		 View across the yard of the Cell House and Administration buildings in the Old Montana Prison
View across the yard of the Cell House and Administration buildings in the Old Montana Prison		 Cell House and Administration buildings in the Old Montana Prison
Cell House and Administration buildings in the Old Montana Prison

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