The Importance Of The Yuma Territorial Prison

The city of Yuma, Arizona is not a city that catches tourists eyes a lot, but every once in a while it does and one of the reasons people notice Yuma is because of the Yuma Territorial Prison. The Yuma Territorial Prison has been through thick and thin and is still standing today, a century and a half later(Murphy 1). The prison is no longer functioning, but it still manages to lure people in, not by breaking the law, but by its historical significance. The prison is unique in design and the impact it has had not just in Yuma, but in Arizona as a whole. The Yuma Territorial Prison today, as a museum, allows people to examine the design of the prison and how it reflects the time and place it was built, the negative effects the prison has caused

B. Kelly, thought that it would help boost the city’s economy. Another reason why the prison was built in Yuma was because the location would have been perfect. Since the Gila River was on the east of where they planned on building and the Colorado was North, with Yuma to the West it discouraged prisoners from escaping. The fact that the prison would be 170 miles away from San Diego, California and 220 miles away from Tucson, Arizona (Zlateuski web) even the thought of prisoners escaping would be highly unlikely. Lastly, Yuma’s weather was miserable there was nothing but dry heat for most of the

The prison hasn’t just been used to provide a building, but its been used for it’s material and has been slowly torn apart. Piece by piece through time, parts of the prison have been torn down. In 1916, there was a flood in Yuma and what the townspeople used to rebuild were parts from the prison (Murphy 1). In order for the Southern Pacific Railroad to be built the western walls and the woman's cells had to be destroyed in 1923 (The Yuma Territorial Prison). More destruction was made when the hospital in the prison and the Mes Hall were burned down in 1924 (The Yuma Territorial Prison). Some of the wreckage was made in order for Yuma to grow, but what they didn’t know was that they were losing parts of history as well. All that’s left from the prison is the main gate, the guard’s tower, and some cells along with the cemetary across the prison. With most of the prison gone today, there isn’t many sources to research about the prison. Most of the journals that people have kept during that time frame were probably burned from the fires or lost during the prison transport which is what makes the information that is currently at the prison so