Arsenal Penitentiary

At the land of Arsenal once stood the Arsenal Penitentiary, here many Lincoln conspirators were hanged. The Penitentiary no longer stands apart form one structure which is known as building 20 or Grant Hall.

The building is now a restricted military installation due to the events of 9/11, and due to security changed the building is no longer open to the public. The history of Arsenal began when John Wilkes Booth's body was buried 10 feet deep in a storage room; this room was only feet away from the Warden's quarters. Booth's corpse remained on the ground for four years, and began the history of the penitentiary and Lincoln's assassination conspiracies.

The penitentiary operated with limited issues and a shoe factory was built to make the prison self sufficient, although it never made a profit and the inmates were lazy and incompetent to use the tools. The average termed served by an inmate at the prison was two years. Despite many efforts to keep the prison open there would not be enough inmates and resulted in the prison being closed in the late 1850s.

Arsenal was used as a storage space for military purposes after Lincoln stated in 'absolutely necessary'. The prison was turned over to the War Department and the remaining inmates send elsewhere.