Missouri’s old state penitentiary in Jefferson City officially closed on Sept. 15, 2004 — a day when nearly 1,300 prisoners were moved to a new facility outside of Jefferson City. Gone are many of the state’s original penitentiary buildings of beautiful stonework, some which were built when A.M. Dockery of Gallatin served as governor.

Prisons and jails are public property, necessities which often fail to garner fiscal priority. Public attention on the 1883 trial of Frank James prodded citizens of Daviess County, MO, to look at upgrading its jail, eventually leading to the construction of the Squirrel Cage Jail in 1889. Thus, Missouri’s most famous outlaws, Frank and Jesse James, were never incarcerated in Gallatin’s historic Rotary Jail.

Can you name some of Missouri’s other infamous prisoners?

  • John Reno of the Reno Gang, considered the world’s first train robber, 1860s-1870s
  • Gen. John McDonald, who once served in President Grant’s administration, convicted of a whiskey tax scheme, 1870s
  • Kate Richards O’Hare, a social reformer, 1919-20, convicted of sedition. She was pardoned by President Wilson and helped reform the penal system.
  • Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd, notorious bank robber, 1929-33. While at the prison, he was suspected of stealing potatoes to make moonshine.
  • Charles “Sonny” Liston, armed robber, 1950-52. Learned to box at Missouri State Penitentiary, and later claimed the title of Heavyweight Boxing Champion by defeating Cassius Clay in 1964.
  • James Earl Ray, armed robber, 1960 until his escape from prison baker in 1967. Assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr., in April, 1968.

Missouri’s old state penitentiary in Jefferson City officially closed on Sept. 15, 2004 — a day when nearly 1,300 prisoners were moved to a new facility outside of Jefferson City. Gone are many of the state’s original penitentiary buildings of beautiful stonework, some which were built when A.M. Dockery of Gallatin served as governor.

This post card of Missouri State Penitentiary depicts its early days. A complex of buildings was constructed between the 1830s and the 1930s. Up until the time of its closing in 2004, it was the oldest prison west of the Mississippi River still in use, and was for many years the most densely populated prison complex in the nation.

Since its beginnings in 1836, the state penitentiary expanded and suffered from growing pains. Riots and murders inside the walls, combined with an explosion in the prison population after World War II and other societal changes, made it necessary to expand and adapt the facility. With new prison buildings came new ideas about rehabilitation — thus educational opportunities, improved health care and recreational services appeared.

The penitentiary once held the reputation as “the bloodiest 47 acres in the nation” (according to a movie magazine in the 1960s). The prison exercise yard was once an old stone quarry, where the rock was cut to make the surrounding walls. The facility once had a slaughterhouse, saddletree factory, harness works, binder twine factory, clothing factory, furniture factory and many shoe factories. More recently, it operated a metal tag shop which produced license plates and adhesive license tags.

— Reprinted, in part, from “Lock Down in Time” by Barbara Baird,
published in the Missouri Ruralist, November 2006

Inmates line up to re-enter the Missouri State Penitentiary at Jefferson City, MO.