Colorado Territorial Prison Museum
(Canon City,
Colorado)
Excerpts from Kristy:
 When Roadchix saw the Colorado Territorial Prison, we thought,
"What an opportunity, a real-live prison turned into
a museum." Off the main road a bit, we drove back an
alley to the museum which is smack-dab against the current
prison. The guard tower next to the museum is still in use
for the new prison. We were even able to hear them shouting
out instructions to the inmates as we walked around the museum
grounds snapping pictures.
 Inside the museum, the cells of the prison had been made
into exhibits of life in prison, jailbreaks, and memorials
to fallen officers. Apparently female inmates in the sixties
were able to crochet toilet seat covers and decorate their
rooms with curtains. While not roomy, the accommodations weren't
that harsh either. But further down the line, we discovered
that while the cells may have been widened a foot in recent
years, they now hold two inmates.
After this, Roadchix, who never had any intention of ever
getting arrested, decided that we definitely never, ever wanted
to go to jail. Highlights of the museum include being able
to go into one of the extremely old cells that was replaced
due to it being so small as to be inhumane. You can walk in
the original gas chamber, which replaced the traditional method
of hanging, since replaced by lethal injection. You can see
the machine parts for making license plates and see what the
conditions are like for someone in solitary confinement. Definitely
a must-see stop, even if it is out of the way in Canon City.
http://www.prisonmuseum.org/
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