Essay On Yuma Territorial Prison

The yuma territorial prison was established in 1875, it was the first building to have electricity in yuma and the residents were able to use that for themselves. The prison taught the prisoners how to read if they didnt know how to already and were taught different languages from other prisoners and other people. The prison had brought many people to yuma, it increased the population by 11.3 % in its time span. There were many rules to the prison and it held many types of prisoners. The yuma territorial prison did a lot for yuma Arizona and is a national treasure.

The construction process of the prison yuma territorial prison began in 1875, they were going to have a decision whether it should be held in phoenix arizona or yuma arizona;

The prison increased the population by 11.3% for yuma and it had brought the very first library. The construction process of the prison was by the prisoners themselves and they entered the cells they made on July 1, 1876. The rules of the punishment now don't seem as bad as how they were before, the dark cell was given to the prison who stole, disobeyed orders and talked back and refused to do anything, the dark cell was a 15 by 15 feet hole in a solid mound and very little sunlight entered through the top and prisoners that entered must be stripped to their underwear and sit their for a couple of days maybe weeks; They were cut off to all other prisoners and sometimes,according to the cell mates and ex-prisoners guarded would throw snakes and scorpions down the hole; many called it a snake den. After the prison closed it was used as a high school and also a hospital, at times other schools would make fun of the yuma high school and call them crim’s or criminals and ever since the name has stuck with them. The hospital was used then burned down years later but the prison itself was torn apart during the great depression because people scavenged for parts and within five years the whole prison wall was gone. People have funded to keep the prison alive and now it is a museum , hollywood sees the place as a hide out for movie films. The prison brought many bad things because it pumped raw sewage to the colorado river and the town was less than half a mile down the street. This is all information about the yuma territorial