Prison Tours | Missouri State Penitentiary (2024)

FAQs

Can you visit the Missouri State Penitentiary? ›

It now serves as a great historic landmark in downtown Jefferson City welcoming thousands of guests annually from all over the world. Whether visitors choose to take a history or ghost tour, they will walk through historic housing units, the upper courtyard and the gas chamber where 39 men and 1 woman were executed.

Explore Eastern State's historic cellblocks. Learn about the history of the penitentiary and its relevance today. Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site is currently open daily from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

The cornerstone of the correctional system in Missouri was the Missouri State Penitentiary, which opened in 1836 in Jefferson City, Missouri. It is the oldest penitentiary west of the Mississippi River.

The Missouri State Penitentiary was closed on October 14, 2004, and the new Jefferson City Correctional Center was opened.

About the Penitentiary

Louisiana State Penitentiary, once known as “America's Bloodiest Prison,” is the largest maximum security prison in the nation.

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.

Alphonse "Scarface" Capone

Chicago's most famous mob boss spent eight months at Eastern State in 1929-1930. Arrested for carrying a concealed, deadly weapon, this was Capone's first prison sentence. His time in Eastern State was spent in relative luxury.

Notable Prisoners

These vaulted, sky-lit cells once held many of America's most notorious lawbreakers, including bank robber “Slick Willie” Sutton and "Scarface" Al Capone.

Eastern State Penitentiary is a must-do visit if you're in Philly! This haunting but fascinating former prison refined the revolutionary system of separate incarceration, and housed criminals such as Al Capone. For $16 USD, you receive entry to the prison and an audio set to guide you around the site.

The Missouri State Penitentiary, also called MSP or the Walls, was a notoriously brutal prison. In 1967, Time Magazine named it “the bloodiest 47 acres in America.”

Why is the Missouri State Penitentiary called the bloodiest 47 acres? ›

In 1967 the Missouri State Penitentiary was infamously named the "bloodiest 47 acres in America" by Time magazine because of the incredibly high number of serious assaults on the grounds between 1963 and 1964.

Is a Penitentiary a Jail or Prison? A penitentiary is a term synonymous with prison and refers to a long-term correctional facility where individuals sentenced for more extended periods serve their time.

Missouri History Today April 23, 1967: James Earl Ray escapes from the Missouri State Penitentiary. James Earl Ray was doing 20 years for a robbery when he escaped in a bread truck. It wasn't even big news at the time, but it sure became big news a year later when Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.

Construction began in 1834 and the first inmate arrived in 1836. From then on the prison became famous for being one of the most efficient in the country…and infamous for its notorious inmates and the 1954 riot on its grounds.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Missouri and was first used in 1810 in the form of hanging. From 1810 to 1965, 285 people were executed. From 1976-1988 none were executed, and from 1989-2024 98 persons were executed.

James Earl Ray escapes from the Missouri State Penitentiary. He was doing 20 years for a robbery when he escaped in a bread truck. It wasn't even big news at the time until one year later when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Since there is no heat or air conditioning at the facility we recommend that guests dress for the weather.

Adult Institutions. For Missourians sentenced to state prisons, the Department of Corrections manages 21 correctional centers – 19 for men and two for women.