Minnesota Territorial Prison
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Territorial/State Prison
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Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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The Minnesota State Prison in 1902
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| Location | Main and Laurel Streets, Stillwater, Minnesota |
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| Coordinates | 45°3′45″N 92°48′29″W / 45.06250°N 92.80806°WCoordinates: 45°3′45″N 92°48′29″W / 45.06250°N 92.80806°W |
| Built | 1884–98 |
| Built by | Jesse Taylor Company |
| Architect | Jacob Fisher |
| NRHP Reference # | 82003079 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 20, 1982 |
| Removed from NRHP | January 7, 2005 |
The Minnesota Territorial Prison, later the Minnesota State Prison, was a prison in Stillwater, Minnesota, United States, in operation from 1853 to 1914. Construction of the prison began in 1851, shortly after Minnesota became a territory. The prison was replaced by the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater in nearby Bayport. Most of the original prison's structures were demolished in 1936, leaving only the 1853 Warden's House and a manual labor complex that had been constructed 1884–1898. The surviving factory buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for having state-level significance in the themes of industry and social history. The historic site, long since unused, was destroyed by arson on September 3, 2002. It was formally delisted from the National Register in 2005.
Plans for Minnesota's first prison were proposed by Governor Alexander Ramsey in 1849 and federal funds were secured the following year. The Minnesota Territorial Prison was constructed within a ravine on the northern edge of Stillwater. The site was chosen for its convenient proximity to the St. Croix River and its steamboat landings, and because the marshy land would be cheap. The architect was Jacob Fisher and the contractor was the Jesse Taylor Company. The initial phase of construction between 1851 and 1853 resulted in the main prison building, the outer walls, and the warden's house overlooking the complex from the bluff to the south.
The prison opened in 1853. The first warden was Francis R. Delano, who had been involved in its construction through the Jesse Taylor Company. The facility instituted a prison library under his leadership, and by 1858 had a physician and chaplain on staff. In 1859 the prison began leasing penal labor, providing private businesses with property on site and convict workers. Classic black-and-white-striped prison uniforms were adopted in 1860, and the reduction of sentences for good conduct time in 1862. An inmate-published newspaper, The Prison Mirror, launched in 1887. Relocated to the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater, The Prison Mirror is the oldest prison newspaper continuously printed in the United States.
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