This was such an interesting tour! The chipped and flaking paint, makes it even more interesting. Although these cell blocks seem very small, the segregated Black cells(prior to 1970's) slept 6!
And some didn't even have windows although they could look out the front of the cell to a large window. This cell block is in the building that looks like a castle---the first photo here.
The former warden told us about a friend of his who reported to this block on his first night. Typically, the men left their cells in the evening for showers but then returned to their cells. Unfortunately, the other guards had to go to the cafeteria where there was a disturbance leaving the warden's friend by himself. When the prisoners saw they had the new guy, they didn't go back to their cells but visited with one another. One of the prisoners (with multiple murders) came up to the new guard and said, "It's so noisy here, I can't hear my radio. Get them under control! Is this your first night?" When the guard admitted it was, the prisoner yelled, "HEY, all you S.O.B's get back to your cells." They silently returned to their cells while the prisoner turned to the new guard and said, "Now, you know who's in charge here."
The red brick building was where James Earl Ray was housed before he escaped and assassinated Martin Luther King. The cages in the front are for prisoners who need protection to exercise. They were put in these cages with a basketball!
This building is where the gas chamber was---the white pole is the exhaust for the poisonous fumes.
This was in the walk and was one of the last things the prisoners saw before entering the gas chamber.
The gas chamber was made out of a World War I submarine. Bobby Greenlease's murderers were executed side by side here. I remember this case very well---Heady and Hall were captured near where I was living in St. Louis.
Only half of their ransom was recovered----Tower Grove Park across the street from me was the site of a lot of digging trying to find the rest of the money (OK, I know I did some digging looking for it!) For more information on the case, click here. I was very frightened of "boogie men" after this case. Once, I even refused to get in the car with my own father when I was walking home from school one day. He had to follow me home in the car. . . It was definitely a case that scared and scarred my childhood!
This parking lot was a ball field when it was an active prison. It was never built on because it is also the site of a cemetery with unmarked graves.
I liked the art on the wall and you can see where they had to make the wall higher. In the 1800's, they had 63 admitted one year and 52 escaped! This is on a high bluff over-looking the Missouri River. But, between the prison and the river are railroad tracks which aided and abetted the escapes by the train workers holding out their hands to pick up escapees!
After the tour, we ate at Prison Brews!
The bar is totally barred! The booths look like cells and the restrooms are called "The Gas Chambers".
They had pizza, catfish sandwiches, burgers, reubens which were all delicious!
No comments:
Post a Comment