Yuma Territorial Prison

Yuma Territorial Prison. Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park. The concrete slabs before you are all that remain of an early adobe structure. Originally, this building was where prisoners were processed, ate meals, and received medical attention. Later it housed offices, storerooms, barbershop and the two cells used by inmates working as cooks and waiters., When the prisoners outnumbered the chairs, a new adobe kitchen and dining room was constructed. Not your standard jail cafeteria, this mess hall had a redwood ceiling and wainscoting! It was destroyed by fire in 1924., Southwest of the mess hall, a garden was planted to provide inmates with a place to read and relax., Imagine... , Sharing a room with five other men. The walls that surround you are reinforced with strap iron to ensure you don't dig your way out. Scant protection from the sun and rain are provided by the whitewashed granite walls and roof. The thermometer reads 110 F in the summer, and hot, thick air fills the cell. Moaning voices can be heard from the hospital upstairs. Unlike many nearby homes, it does have ventilation, running water, and electricity, but it's still a prison., After the Territorial prison was closed in 1909, high school voices rang from the prison walls. The hospital and other buildings were leased to the Yuma school district for $600 a semester. During the Depression, homeless drifters moved into the cells, which were later used as a dog pound. Following the 1916 flood, building materials were salvaged from the prison to rebuild the city.