Thursday, June 22, 2017

Those Cells

By the time the prison was mothballed, the cells were twice as wide as they were originally. In the photo below, that block in mid-ceiling would have been the dividing line between two cells.


Even after fist enlarging the cells, there was double occupancy, so there really wasn't much more room per prisoner.

After the '71 riot, however, the cells were changed to single occupancy, and as far as I could see, the inmates used the lower bunk as a table.


As I've mentioned previously, the original cells were a paltry 29" wide, 8' deep, and only 6'7" high. In the museum, which is located in the prison governor's mansion across the street, there was a replica of an original cell. Danica, standing in front of the gate/door, gives us an idea of what a narrow space it was.


I managed to get a bit of a shot of the inside showing a manikin in bed. The bed would have had to be rolled up in the morning to give the prisoner a bit of pacing room.


Pretty bleak, eh?

9 comments:

Mara said...

Well, at least there was no danger of falling out of bed!

I remember a job I once had, where I had to check prisoners' food. Did they have the required amount of potatoes, the rice, the meat or non-meat etc etc. I wasn't allowed to distribute though, since I was only temp staff. I bet the prisoners in 'your' prison just had to eat what they were given! No choice whatsoever.

Mage said...

Beyond bleak.

Tabor said...

For being bleak you have made some cool photos.

Marie Smith said...

Good grief! What a way to exist !

Debbie said...

scary, so sad...i can't even imagine!!!

Jenn Jilks said...

That is gruesome.

troutbirder said...

How come you left out the guillotine?

Vicki Lane said...

Yikes! Cruel but probably not so unusual...

Kay said...

Yikes! That would have driven me crazy.