Schwarzie took Lorraine and me on a ride to tour the Kingston Pen (about 4 hr each way from home).

We went on a tour of the de-commissioned Kingston Penitentiary Thurs/Friday. Had the extended version (2.5 hr) instead of the "standard" (1.5 hr) and it was quite an eye opener (but in a way very depressing).

The standard tour includes the muster area (visitation and correspondence area), north gate, G-Range (cell range) programs wing, main cell dome, segregation/dissociation wing, shop dome, metal shop, recreational yard, regional treatment center gymnasium and a view of the re-authenticated aboriginal grounds. This tour takes approximately 1.5 hours and is wheelchair accessible.

The extended tour includes the Standard Tour plus access to the Canvas and Upholstery Shops, School, Regional Treatment Centre Cell Range, Hospital, Main Gymnasium (where the 1971 riot started) and Laundry Room.

The youingest inmate they ever had was an 8 yr old pickpocket (circa 1845) with a 3 year sentence :surprise: He was given the lash 47 times in 9 months (for childish offences, so the report reads).

This

is one of the building inside the outer wall. No cells here, mainly workshops and such.

as is this



The Pen was built in 1835 (and was decommisioned 2013) entirely out of local limestone. It was one of the oldest prisons in continuous use in the world at the time of its closure.

From wiki:

Kingston Penitentiary had been home to many of Canada's most dangerous and notorious criminals. James Donnelly, patriarch of the Black Donnellys, was sentenced to be hanged on September 17, 1859, for the murder of Patrick Farrell. A petition for clemency started by his wife Johannah saw his sentence reduced to seven years in Kingston Penitentiary.

Other notable inmates include Russell Williams,[19] Paul Bernardo, Clifford Olson, Roger Caron and Grace Marks. Wayne Boden, the Canadian "Vampire Rapist" died there in March 2006. Tim Buck, leader of the Communist Party, was a prisoner at Kingston Penitentiary convicted under Section 98 of the Criminal Code during the early 1930s. Marie-Anne Houde, formerly convicted for the murder of her stepdaughter Aurore Gagnon, was sentenced to life in Kingston Penitentiary, following the appeal to commute her sentence to death citing health reasons. She was released on June 29, 1935.[20]


Mohammad and Hamed Shafia were imprisoned in the penitentiary after being convicted of killing Mohammad's three daughters and first wife. Michael Rafferty was serving a life sentence for his role in the kidnapping, **** and murder of eight-year-old Victoria Stafford of Woodstock, but has since been relocated.

Click to expand...

The cells do not have windows and are really small. You can see at the very top (a block in the ceiling outside the cell). There used to be a wall down the middle so that cell you are looking at used to be two separate cells with one bed per cell. They are now 2 bunks to one larger cell.

They were all like that IIRC.



This will give you some perspective on their actual size


AND yours truly finally got caught and is safely locked up :wink:



One of the guard towers


Overall, it was an interesting tour. There were a lot of empty rooms that we visited (laundry, mail bag mfg, canvas repair, etc) because all the equipment was removed when it was closed down.

Give it a visit if you're ever in Kingston, Ontario.