The story of a forgotten America.

Locations

Type
States
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West Virginia Penitentiary
Prison / Jail / West Virginia

West Virginia Penitentiary is a former prison that operated between 1876 and 1995 in Moundsville, West Virginia. It is currently a tourist attraction and training facility.



Essex County Jail
Prison / Jail / New Jersey

The Essex County Jail is an abandoned jail in Newark, New Jersey. The long-neglected facility was constructed in 1837 and closed in 1971.



Roseville Prison
Prison / Jail / Ohio

Roseville Prison is a closed penitentiary that operated between 1927 and 1966 in Roseville, Ohio.



Durland State Training School for Boys
Prison / Jail / New York

The Warwick State Training School for Boys, near Chester, New York, opened in 1914 as the New York City Farm, a rehabilitation center for alcohol and drug dependent men. It then became the State Training School for Boys in 1933, focused on the rehabilitation of young men, and then as the Mid-Orange Correctional Facility in 1977. It closed in 2011.



Denmar Sanitarium
Prison / Jail / West Virginia

Denmar Sanitarium is a repurposed tuberculosis hospital for African-Americans in Denmar, West Virginia. It became the Denmar State Hospital in 1957 and closed in 1990. It reopened in 1993 as a state prison.



Detroit House of Correction
Prison / Jail / Michigan

The Detroit House of Correction, also referred to as DeHoCo, was a former penitentiary complex near Detroit, Michigan. Originally located in the city of Detroit, it was relocated to Plymouth and Northville townships between 1920 and 1931. DeHoCo closed in 2009 for budgetary reasons and was demolished in 2016.



Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary
Prison / Jail / Tennessee

Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, later known as Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex, is a former maximum-security prison in Morgan County, Tennessee. It was established in 1896 and operated for 113 years until 2009. Brushy Mountain reopened as a tourist attraction in 2018, which includes guided tours of the prison, a restaurant, gift shop, event venue, and a distillery.



Tennessee State Penitentiary
Prison / Jail / Tennessee

Tennessee State Penitentiary is a former state prison that operated from 1831 to 1992 near Nashville, Tennessee.



Western Penitentiary
Prison / Jail / Pennsylvania

Western Penitentiary, later known as SCI Pittsburgh, was a low-to-medium prison in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was the first prison west of the Atlantic Plain as well as a major Civil War prison in 1863–1864.



Ohio State Reformatory
Prison / Jail / Ohio

The Ohio State Reformatory, best known for being the setting for the movie The Shawshank Redemption, is a historic circa 1896 prison north of Mansfield, Ohio. It was converted into a tourist attraction after closing in 1990.



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