Missouri State Penitentiary

Vacation destinations don’t always have to be places of lively entertainment, nor places of great and rare beauty.  Sometimes, it’s the ugly, the decaying and the pain-filled that attracts the imagination.  Like, for example, the many relic prisons of the world.  The Missouri State Penitentiary, located in Jefferson City, Missouri, is certainly one of these and visitors can take one of several different tours there, from educational and historical, to overnight ghost hunts.

MissouriState is a very old place, first opened nearly 200 years past, back in 1836.  It stayed in use long enough to earn the title of the oldest continually operating prison this side (west) of the Mississippi River.  It was in operation all the way up until 2004, when it was converted to become a tourist attraction.

While on a tour of this prison, you’ll get a chance to see all the important locations within the compound, including the yards, the control center, cellblocks dating back more than 150 years and even the infamous dungeon cells, where prisoners were often known to go mad from isolation.  Also included in the itinerary are the industrial workshops were the prisoners worked and the gas chamber, where their lives were sometimes ended.

For those inclined toward the more supernatural side of things, it’s possible to get a ghost tour of the site.  There are daytime ghost tours, special “twilight” tours that take you through at night and even a special tour package that, for a mere $100, allows you take the standard tour and then spend the night in the prison, exploring by the light of a lantern.

Best be warned before you go, however. The place isn't exactly up to code when it comes to building standards, so a signed waiver is required in case something happens and they do not allow young children in the prison.  It’s a little risky and a little strange, but this is definitely a unique attraction for those with an interest in the old and creepy places of the country.  Check out their web site for more information and pricing.

Missouri State Penitentiary photo courtesy sos.mo.gov