Yuma Territorial Prison Ghosts

The 1st seven inmates went into the Territorial prison in Yuma, Arizona on July 1, 1876. They were locked into prison cells that they had built with their own hands. In the following thirty-three years, a grand total of 3,069 prisoners, including twenty-nine women, inhabited in the prison house. Their crimes ranged from murder to polygamy, with grand larceny making up the most common. During that time, 111 of the prisoners passed away, mostly from tuberculosis, but all the same, the stories say that a few of them never left this place, even in death.

In spite of the reputation of the Yuma prison being a brutal place, the punishments here were really humane for the time and generally consisted of the “dark cell”, a spot of isolation for the rule breakers, and a ball and chain for those who attempted to escape. It was viewed as a model institution and the prisoners had regular medical attention, access to a good hospital and even the opportunity to learn to read and write while imprisoned. The prison housed one of the first “public” libraries in the territory and visitors were charged a fee to tour the prison and to check out books. One of the earliest electric generating plants in the western states furnished light and ventilation for the cell blocks.
But all was not perfect and by 1907, the prison was severely overcrowded. The convicts constructed a new facility in Florence and the last of them were transferred away from Yuma by September 1909.
From 1910-1914, the former prison buildings were occupied by the Yuma High School and after that, empty cells provided fee lodging for hoboes and drifters who were riding the rails across the country. The Great Depression of the 1920’s saw the prison in use once more as homeless families took up residence, seeking shelter from the elements.

In the years that followed, the prison grew smaller and smaller as local residents saw the stones as free building material for homes and projects. This theft, along with fires, weather, and railroad construction destroyed most of what was left of the place. Today, only the cells, the main gate and the tower … and the ghosts…. remain.