The Old Idaho Penitentiary is one of the most notable attractions in Boise, Idaho. Visitors can experience over 100 years of Idaho’s unique prison history with a visit to Solitary Confinement, cell blocks, and the Gallows, among various other places and features. With thirty historic buildings and special exhibitions, the Old Idaho Penitentiary showcases how monuments can preserve the past while creating opportunities for stakeholders and engagement for audiences in the present.
Connected to the Territory of Idaho
The Old Idaho Penitentiary was a functional prison from 1872 through 1973, although the first building was built in 1870, well before Idaho became a state. The Old Idaho Penitentiary started as a single-cell building but grew into a complex of numerous buildings that were surrounded by huge sandstone walls. Stone for the wall was quarried by inmates in the nearby area.
Over its 101 years of operation, the penitentiary received more than 13,000 inmates. The Rose Garden was the site used for 6 of the 10 people executed at the complex in the early 1900s. Idaho’s “Jack the Ripper”, Raymond Allen Snowden, was the last person to be executed on the compound in 1957 and the only one to be hanged in Cell House #5.
Major riots occurred in 1971 and 1973 over living conditions, which resulted in the prisoners being relocated and the prison shutting down. The penitentiary was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in that same year, ensuring that the space would be protected and preserved. The Idaho State Historical Society manages it today to both protect this history and help provide context around how it has shaped communities.
All of this history is on display throughout the Old Idaho Penitentiary in ways that allow visitors to have unique experiences with it and throughout the complex.
Experiencing the History of Prison Life in Idaho
The numerous prison buildings located throughout the Old Idaho Penitentiary contain different experiences for visitors and provide them with an incredible sense of context around the people, time period that existed when the prison was in operation. The complex has an assortment of interpretive aids spread throughout the grounds, including displays on improvised weapons, daily life, and prison riots.
Some buildings, like the Dining Hall, were destroyed when the prison was in operation, and what remains are just ruins or the footprint of the building. Others, like Cell House 4, allow visitors to see and feel what it was actually like to be in the prison when it was operational. Some inmates painted their cells and left drawings on the walls that can be seen today.
These experiences are in addition to numerous exhibits that recount the history of a building or the personal history of prisoners. The Faces of Idaho State Penitentiary explores the untold and often overlooked stories of people of color, different religions, various ethnic backgrounds, and more. Other exhibits explore the sometimes harsh punishments and prison conditions of the past and what life was like for inmates and guards during the 101 years the penitentiary operated.
There are also numerous special exhibits that enable the Old Idaho Penitentiary to be about more than the history of the prison or this region of Idaho. The J.C. Earl Exhibit at the Old Idaho Penitentiary contains the personal collection of historic arms and military memorabilia that Earl donated to the state of Idaho. The wide-ranging collection and displays illustrate the development of weapons throughout history. Pieces in it date back to 3500 B.C. Elsewhere, the Transportation Exhibition contains pieces like the Merci Train, highlighting the various types of history that places like the Old Idaho Penitentiary can contain.
These experiences are directly related to how the surrounding community has embraced the Old Idaho Penitentiary to turn it into an attraction that pulls in audiences from across the region.
Community Engagement and Connection
Open to the public daily, an admission fee is charged to all visitors, providing the Idaho State Historical Society with an important means of support. That support is also further bolstered by the products that are available to purchase in the gift shop. There are other sources of direct revenue though.
Numerous areas of the Old Idaho Penitentiary are available to rent as a unique venue for corporations, non-profits and some private parties. Fundraisers and for-profit events are approved on a case-by-case basis and may require additional fees. Sections that are available to rent for events range from the Shirt Factory Building to the Women’s Ward to the Penitentiary Houses. These opportunities are not only a direct source of revenue but also spur further connection to the community.
One of the ways that connection is cultivated is via initiatives like the Old Pen podcast that explores Idaho history, true crime, and the stories of the inmates who lived at the Old Idaho Penitentiary. Produced by two employees of the Idaho State Historical Society, the effort provides an entirely new way for people to connect with the history and community.
These events and programs provide families, school groups, and visitors with an opportunity to relive the Old Idaho Penitentiary history. For these reasons and more, the site has become a mainstay of maps and guides to the city. Additionally, tour guides and ghost tours are conducted at and around the area, creating another important source of revenue and connection to the community.
In becoming an essential element of the surrounding community as a well as a draw for visitors, the Old Idaho Penitentiary showcases what it can mean to celebrate a legacy that is as much about the past as it is the future.
A Legacy That Connects Different Eras of Idaho
Visiting the Old Idaho Penitentiary provides visitors with a very real sense of being incarcerated, but that’s just one of the reasons it has become such a popular attraction for Boise. Like other Boise monuments that are connected to the history of the city, the Old Idaho Penitentiary has an important connection to the past of the region. However, the experiences it has enabled in the present have created a legacy that is much bigger than this history to form an incredibly important landmark for the city and all of Idaho.
