The Most Haunted Penitentiary in Idaho

The Old Idaho State Penitentiary was a functional prison from 1872 to 1973. It was in operation for 101 years, and over 13,000 inmates passed through the penitentiary door, and many believe the souls never left the prison.

The facility is a short 2 miles from downtown Boise and could hold up to 600 inmates simultaneously. Of the 13000 inmates, 216 were women. The facility has been home to executions, escapes, scandals, and at least 129 deaths.

The first building of the prison was the Territorial Prison, and from this single structure, the prison expanded. The prison remains one of only four territorial prisons open to the public today.

Eventually, the prison was surrounded by 17-foot-high walls made of sandstone in a Romanesque style. The convicts were its primary workforce, building the walls and quarrying the stone from the nearby ridges.

Conditions at the prison

At this time, Boise was looking to join the Union, and controlling their outlaws became a priority. Which also meant by any means possible. Most inmates were locked up and witnessed inhumane conditions.

During the first 50 years, the prison lacked proper sanitation facilities and no plumbing. The prison also suffered from ventilation issues, making it a hotbed for disease.

The prison walls were sandstone (and retained the weather conditions outside), creating an unbearable summer environment. The walls kept the cold in the winter, and the prison was like a freezer.

The conditions created the perfect atmosphere for disgruntled guards and inmates. It is believed that many spirits of those who died at the facility never left.

Ghost Stories

Cell House 5 was also known as death row. This section of the prison was cold and barren, and the air thick with death. This area housed the worst of the worst, and they spent 23 hours a day in their cells with only a bed, sink, and toilet, permanent solitary confinement, with its execution chamber. The two most famous on death row were Raymond Snowden and Douglas Van Vlack.

Some have reported hearing gasps coming from the empty cell blocks, doors slamming, and lights going out, especially in the execution chambers. Others have noted the feelings of dread and negative energy the closer they got to the execution chamber; some even claim they heard a man struggling to breathe. It also reportedly has the most paranormal activity of the entire facility.

The execution chamber has a dark history that involves the botched execution of Raymon Snowden, aka Idaho's Jack the Ripper. Snowden was sentenced to die after killing Cora Dean by stabbing her 29 times, mutilating her body, and fleeing.

It was reported that during the hanging, the rope failed to break his neck, and he struggled to breathe for 15 minutes before he died. This botched execution has led to stories that he still haunts the gallows; Snowden was also buried in the prison's cemetery because his family did not wish to claim his body.

Albert Horsley, aka Harry Orchard, was sentenced to the facility after he assassinated former governor Frank Steunenberg due to getting involved in the labor wars while he was working as a miner. He was a miner for the Western Miners Union, and Governor Steunenberg targeted them.

The government called in the military to get rid of the Labor violence. Albert then got involved in blowing up mine owners and nonunion miners, as well as anyone who opposed the Miners' Union. He then rigged a bomb at the governor's house, and when the governor walked into the trap, he was blown up and killed.

Albert was arrested and sentenced to death, but after he gave up his fellow co-conspirators, he was given life in the Idaho State Penitentiary. Albert was imprisoned for 46 years, and he died at age 88 at the prison. He is one of the longest inmates at the prison, and some may believe his spirit still haunts the prison.

However, he is said to be a friendly ghost and even helps the guides. Many believe because he became a Christian and was the perfect inmate, he even became eligible for parole at one point but did not want to leave the prison.

Womens Ward

There are stories that the womens ward was haunted. Many inmates would see an apparition of a woman. Lyda Southard still haunts the prison, also known as ¨The Black Widow & Flypaper Lyda¨.

It is believed that she killed four of her husbands, a brother-in-law, and her two-year-old daughter. It is said that she killed them using arsenic, derived from flypaper, by boiling it and putting it in her food. She did this to receive their life insurance money. Lyda is also the first female serial killer in Idaho. Lyda was pardoned in 1942 and died in 1950 of a heart attack. Even though she did not die while imprisoned, many still believe that her spirit haunts the women's ward.

Closure

In 1971 and 1973, the inmates rioted. However, the 1973 riot was the breaking point for the facility, and shortly after the riot, the inmates were relocated.

December 3, 1973, the prison was closed. The facility has since been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.