Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park is located in Yuma, Arizona. Visitors can walk around it to see what life would have been like for prisoners in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and it stands today as a monument to prison life at the time.
Yuma Territorial Prison was first opened on July 1, 1876. It operated for the next 33 years and was a model prison of its time, housing 3,069 prisoners before it finally closed its doors on September 15, 1909, due to overcrowding. After that the prison buildings were first of all used as a schoolhouse until 1914, before the cells were used to provide free lodgings and then for homeless families during the Depression.
Since then the prison walls and many of the buildings have been eroded and destroyed, thanks to weathering, fires, railroad construction and the townspeople using the prison for free building materials. Only the cells, main gate and guard tower remain.
Today, the 7 acre site is a state historical park and the remaining buildings stand as a living museum, showcasing what prison life would have been like for convicts of the Old West. Visitors are able to tour the prison and see the museum, and can see and hear stories of the convicts and learn about the history of the prison itself. It's a fascinating look back at history and offers a unique glimpse into the lives of those who were once imprisoned there.
Also on the site is a Visitor Center offering all the facilities and information tourists could need, as well as picnic tables and a ramada so people can spend the entire day there.
The Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park sits just above the Colorado River in Yuma, Arizona, in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. It's located just south of Interstate 18 at the Fourth Avenue exit so is easily accessible from anywhere in the area.
The park is open daily throughout the year except Christmas Day, with the opening hours of the Visitor Center being 8am until 5pm. Entrance fees sometimes vary so it's worth checking with the park in advance.
Visitors find the whole museum a great experience, and particularly enjoy reading the biographies of the prisoners as it offers a great insight into what their life would have been like there. Strolling around the prison ruins in the heat of the summer really gives people a chance to see that incarceration in such a place would have been less than pleasant, and it really makes people feel like they're experiencing it for themselves.
A trip to the Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park is well worth the trip for anyone in the area, if only to see and feel what prison life was once like. The prison being open to the public is a great asset and really offers a glimpse into the history of the Old West and the prisoners that lived there.
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