Where is mcneil island prison

Construction of the territorial penitentiary was completed in The first three prisoners, two men convicted of selling liquor to Indians and one for robbing a store in Fort Walla Walla, arrived on May 28, accompanied by a U.

Prisoners lived together in communal cell houses, two to a cell, which they were later allowed to decorate. Work provided an important pathway to rehabilitation. There was no hard labor at McNeil; reform-minded wardens allowed all work to be voluntary. Prisoners worked in the kitchen, vegetable garden, grain fields, dairy and pig farm, slaughterhouse and chicken farm. The Honor Farm, created in , housed trusted inmates and was later used by the state prison for its Work Ethic Program.

There were carpentry, metalsmithing and boatbuilding shops; a tailor shop; a brickyard; an acetylene-gas plant and later an electrical plant; water works, sewer and sanitation facilities and a hospital; all provided work and training opportunities and made the prison largely self-sufficient.

In addition to work there were educational and recreational opportunities: night school, a library, music, movies, basketball, baseball and more. Interior of a cell block at the U. In , McNeil housed 58 inmates; by that number had grown to , and that year the prison could accommodate as many as 1, prisoners.

The increase in the rate of incarceration reflected in part general population growth, but was also the result of shifting societal and cultural norms that in turn affected the types of crimes committed and prosecuted. Criminals convicted of violent acts were rare; in Robert Stroud, who gained notoriety in later years as the Birdman of Alcatraz, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served the first three years of a year sentence at McNeil before he was transferred to Leavenworth.

Convictions for draft evasion and dereliction of duty predominated once the United States entered World War I in Although Scott had never learned to play, he was fascinated with the instrument. Using scrap lumber found in the yard, the man taught him how to heat wood on a radiator so he could turn it and shape it, slowly forming the pieces into the beginnings of a delicate instrument.

Eventually, his teacher was released from McNeil, leaving Scott to finish the project himself. His wife found a violin manual and began to copy instructions for him, including them in her daily letters to her husband.

At first, the diagrams were confiscated by prison guards, so she became more creative. See stories by Kirsten Kendrick. Ariel Van Cleave. Ariel first entered a public radio newsroom in while in school at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. It was love at first sight. Ariel has lived in Indiana, Ohio and Alaska reporting on everything from salmon spawning to policy issues concerning education.

See stories by Ariel Van Cleave. Simone Alicea. She earned her Bachelor's of Journalism from Northwestern University. See stories by Simone Alicea. Kari Plog. She came to KNKX in as the station's online editor. Before transitioning to public radio, Kari worked as a print journalist at The News Tribune in Tacoma. See stories by Kari Plog. Related Content. This story is the result of research from a yearlong project in partnership with the Washington State History Museum.

In , Washington was admitted to the Union. Palmer in The total custodial force consisted of seven guards. In , Attorney General Philander C. Knox was placed in full charge of the jail and McNeil Island was immediately declared an official United States prison.

In , an additional 67 acres were purchased for a prison farm to produce vegetables and fruit. Due to the need for water, another 1, This brought the total prison acreage to 2, In , the federal farm camp North Complex was completed. By , the population was inmates. At one time, the island provided for itself by raising vegetables, fruit, pork, beef, and milk. The final land transaction in involved 2, The entire island, roughly seven square miles, was now under federal control.

In , Butterworth Lake was formed. In , construction began on the community center and school to provide education for the children residing in the 52 homes on the island.