Haunted Idaho Penitentiary

Only one of four territorial prisons ever built in the United States the Idaho Penitentiary was closed in 1973 on December 3. There were riots at the prison in 1971 and 1973 over the horrible living conditions there at the old prison. Over 13.000 people spent time at the prison while it was open and 215 women did time there at the old prison. When the prison was finally closed there were 416 inmates living there that were moved to the new prison.The old prison had been open for 101 years.

One of the most famous things about the old Idaho Penitentiary was the rose gardens that were tended by the inmates at the prison. They were said at one time to be the most beautiful rose gardens in the world.

The old Idaho Penitentiary is now on the list of National Register Of Historic Places and it is currently looked after and managed by the Idaho Historical Society.

The old Idaho Penitentiary is said to be one of the most haunted locations in the United States. It is interesting to note that only ten executions took place at the old penitentiary and these were all death by hanging. The last execution carried out at the prison was that of Idahos own Jack the Ripper , Raymond Allen Snowden who had killed Cora Dean in such a vicious manner that newspapers at the time dubbed Snowden as Idahos Jack the Ripper. And though Snowden boasted often around the prison of two more vicious murders he was only ever tried and convicted of the one murder. On October 18th 1957 Snowden had his date with the hangman.

The only double execution to ever be carried out at the prison was on April 13th 1951. On that day Troy Powell age 21 and Ernest Walrath age 20 were executed for the murder of a Boise Grocer. They were the youngest inmates ever executed at the prison and the only double execution in its history.

Raymond Snowden was said to be by prison officials to have been one of the most evil men to ever enter the prison and many people say it is his ghost that still haunts the old penitentiary. He was after all hanged at the prison and was even called Idahos Jack the Ripper by the newspapers at the time. Many people say it is Snowden who makes a strange laughing sound heard even today at the prison. Other people have claimed to see him walking around at various locations around the prison.

Many people over the years have made the claim that they have seen inmates out working in the old rose gardens. Some people have even asked about the actors dressed as prisoners working in the rose garden. There are no actors dressed as prisoners working in the rose garden and there never have been.

Other people who have visited the prison say that lights will go off and on by themselves and doors will open and shut by themselves. A ghostly cat is seen around the grounds and there is indeed a cat buried on the grounds in a marked grave behind the old Shirt Factory Building. The grave says the cats name was Dennis and the cat lived in the prison from 1951 - 1968. It is a historical fact that the cat did indeed live at the prison.

Can you even imagine living year after year with three or more people in a cell like that above. The prison was often overcrowded which led to the riots at the prison. It is said that if you try to spend the night in one of the old cells that in the night you will be attacked by someone shoving you. People also report hearing the sound of a man whistling and then he stops because he starts coughing so bad he can't stop.

Many many paranormal investigators have visited the old prison and they all agree that the old Idaho Penitentiary is a hot bed of paranormal activity. They recorded the sound of talking , screams for help , and loud unexplained banging in the old prison. It is said that in some parts of the old prison that even in the middle of summer that it will become so cold you can't stand it and then you will hear strange laughter seeming to come from all around you.