Inside the bloodiest 47 acres in America: Experience life as a convict as Missouri's decommissioned state penitentiary becomes a tourist attraction with a former prison guard as chief guide

  • The prison received its first inmate on the same day as the Battle of the Alamo - in 1836
  • 40 inmates were executed, most of them in a gas chamber
  • There have been reports of ghost sightings and paranormal activity in the prison

Closed since 2004, the oldest prison west of the Mississippi River has become one of Missouri's largest tourist attractions.

At one point dubbed 'the bloodiest 47 acres in America,' the Missouri State Penitentiary, in Jefferson City, MO., executed 40 people and had many inmates die in riots after it opened in 1836. Now a former prison guard takes people through the facility on guided tours.

At its peak before closing in 2004, the prison housed over 5,200 inmates and once the largest in the country. The prison held 1,355 inmates when it was finally shuttered in 2004. Guided tours of the prison began soon after.

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Since the Alamo: The Missouri State Penitentiary received its first prisoner in 1836 - on the same day as the Battle of the Alamo

Since the Alamo: The Missouri State Penitentiary received its first prisoner in 1836 - on the same day as the Battle of the Alamo

A century older than the more famous Alcatraz Prison, in San Francisco, CA., MSP received its first prisoner on the same day the 1836 Battle of the Alamo was fought, according to the prison's website touting the tours.

There have been several television shows shot inside the prison in the past decade, including numerous ghost hunting programs. They claim to have witnessed paranormal activity and that the prison is haunted.

Guided history tours, paranormal tours, ghost hunts, overnight 'paranormal investigations' and photography tours are currently given of the 181-year-old prison.

Famous for violence and riots, the prison's worst riot took place in 1954, according to the site.

Infamous: Former prison guard Bill Green (L) shows a recent prison tour a mug shot of a famous previous inmate

Infamous: Former prison guard Bill Green (L) shows a recent prison tour a mug shot of a famous previous inmate

Surrounded by concrete: Visitors to the Missouri State Penitentiary learn about the history of the prison during a tour

Surrounded by concrete: Visitors to the Missouri State Penitentiary learn about the history of the prison during a tour

The bloodiest 47 acres in America: Former prison guard Bill Green (R) displays actual weapons confiscated from prisoners during a tour

The bloodiest 47 acres in America: Former prison guard Bill Green (R) displays actual weapons confiscated from prisoners during a tour

Almost 2,500 were running wild through the prison, fighting each other and the guards. Four buildings were lit ablaze as dozens of police departments and the National Guard poured in to end the mayhem.

Whle many inmates threw bricks and chunks of concrete at each other, some tortured to death a prisoner being held in solitary confinement.

The riot lasted all night until finally being brought under control. In the end, four inmates were killed, 50 injured and one attempted suicide. No one escaped, but $5million in damage was caused by the crazed prisoners.

Just a visit: Sandy Butler (L) and Mary Walters from St. Louis, Missouri, wait to begin their tour of the Missouri State Penitentiary

Just a visit: Sandy Butler (L) and Mary Walters from St. Louis, Missouri, wait to begin their tour of the Missouri State Penitentiary

House of horrors: Visitors enter the gas chamber during a tour of the Missouri State Penitentiary

House of horrors: Visitors enter the gas chamber during a tour of the Missouri State Penitentiary

Say cheese!: A visitor photographs a jail cell during a recent tour

Say cheese!: A visitor photographs a jail cell during a recent tour

Though some escape attempts were successful, one ended disastrously for the men who failed, according to the site.

Three men hatched an ill-fated escape attempt in 1907. After they inevitably failed, they were hung in the prison yard as an example to other inmates.

Exactly 40 inmates were executed at MSP, most in a gas chamber. according to the site.

The most infamous execution involved outlaw couple Bonnie Heady and Carl Austin Hall. The two cons kidnapped a young boy and demanded a $600,000 ransom for him.

Once paid, the boy was found killed and buried, they were soon arrested and sentenced in 1953 to death. Given the grisly nature of their crime, authorities saw fit to gas them at the same time later that year.

 
Bonnie Headly
Carl Austin Hall

Write caption here

A real gas: Visitors walk through the gas chamber during a recent tour

A real gas: Visitors walk through the gas chamber during a recent tour

'Nobody knows, the troubles I've seen': Alberta Chulick, of St. Louis, looks at an old cell during a recent tour

'Nobody knows, the troubles I've seen': Alberta Chulick, of St. Louis, looks at an old cell during a recent tour

During 168 years in service, MSP held famous inmates such as assassin James Earl Ray and boxer Sonny Liston.

Mr Ray was serving time in the prison for the 1959 robbery of a St Louis grocery store. During his eight years in the prison, Mr Ray failed to escape many time before succeeding by hiding in a bread box, according to the website.

Ray surfaced again about a year later, on April 4, 1968 - when he shot dead Martin Luther King Jr in Memphis, TN.

Prior to becoming a world champion boxer, Mr Liston was serving time in MSP for armed robbery. Mr Liston started boxing while in prison and soon caught the attention of a newspaper publisher, the site said.

The publisher quickly negotiated the terms of Mr Liston's parole in 1952, entered him in an amateur Golden Gloves boxing match and a year later won the National Heavyweight Championship in Chicago.


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