FREEZE! You Have The Right to Rest in Peace.

Magazine Street

We were at the corner of Magazine Street, when my heart started racing. This would be my first time at an abandoned jail, but it would not be my first time in an abandoned building. My palms were sweaty and my mind was racing, as I tried to wrap it around the idea of going to this haunted jail. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as we got closer to it. I could tell myself all I wanted that I did not believe in ghosts, but we all know I did.

Old City Jail

For my last field trip, with my beyond the grave class, we decided to take a tour to the Old City Jail. Since we might be the jails last visitors, we decided what better way to wrap up the semester. The weather was hot and sticky and I constantly swatted at gnats while we waited to taken inside.
While waiting I couldn't help but look up at the brick building. Cobwebs coated the metal bars of the windows and what had once been a four story building was now three. There had been tall walls to prevent more prisoners from escaping, but they were gone now.

Stairway to Hell

After taking a cute class photo our tour guide was ready for us. Randy happened to be a jolly guy I really enjoyed meeting him he made the dead hollow jail feel alive. He started off by giving us the history of the jail. Prior to it being a jail, it was dedicated to being a burial place for poor and enslaved people. Fun fact, it hadn't been turned into a jail until 1802 and closed in the year 1939 because it was seen as unjust.

Cages

Most of the criminals at this jail had to be pretty hardcore, because only serious crimes would get you placed there. Once taken to the jail, you would be placed inside of a cage. If criminals were to be punished, they would have open cells with no beds, and have to wait for a jailer to drag them downstairs to whip them. The sad part is if they lived after being whipped, they would be released unless the died from shock or infection. Our tour guide Randy even took the liberty of telling us, "If you were here longer than four months, you probably weren't leaving."

Torture Device

Now I know you're wondering, was the jail only for men? The answer to that question is no. The women were just as bad off as the men and often had to fend for themselves. If the women had children or were pregnant, they were forced to keep them there or they would be located in a different section working.

Alonzo's Wheelchair

Some of the children were prisoners as well and the youngest was 10 years old. Alonzo Smalls, was a young African American boy, who was wrongfully imprisoned for the death of a trolley worker. Him and his friends had just been playing on another trolley when it started rolling down hill and crashed into the trolley the other man was on killing him instantly. Although it was a complete accident his friends and him were punished, Alonzo had even worse fate since he was convicted of first degree murder. Pictured to the left is an image of the wheel chair Alonzo died in. Tour guides stated that it was there when the came along three years ago and they just decided to leave it there.

While we were walking to our next destination, something pulled me back and I couldn't help but notice the wheelchair prior to everyone else. I don't know if it was the spirit of Alonzo calling onto to me to listen to his story but I stood there in a trance for a while.

Sadly this isn't the only crazy story this jail has to offer, for instance, William Marcus murdered his wife on a beach with an ice pick to the head. Once incarcerated he took the liberty of living up to the psychopath lifestyle by punching a guy in the face with his own hand. IT was so easy for guards to think he was innocent because right after committing a certain crime he would act innocent.

Graffiti Wall

Oh and if you're a fan of American Horror Story then this might sound familiar. Dr George Todd was the brother in law of Abraham Lincoln, but he also was one of the doctors at the jail. He took the freedom of torturing prisoners and get this using them for "experimentation and anatomy practices."

Although, death was common at this jail, it was just as common for them to dispose of your body without knowing if you were dead or not. Families would do just about anything to see if you were dead, from kicking to slapping the same cannot be said for the guards. Once the prisoners came into a coma, the guards would throw their bodies into a pile. Some of them would call out asking for help, trying to tell someone that they weren't dead. Sadly a lot of them died in that pile or were burned alive.

Where Lavinia stayed

Even passerby's thought this jail gave an unnerving feel. One lawyer by the name of, John Blake White, was there to see a client when he heard and unearthly scream. The guard that was leading him to his client turned around and said, "That's the executioner, do you wanna see him?" Agreeing nervously he followed the guard to the executioner. As the guard opened the door, a hand reached out and someone in the darkness croaked, "Whiskey, whiskey." The guard slammed the gate shut and yelled, "You'll get your whiskey once you kill them." By them he meant Lavinia Fisher and her husband. Lavinia was known as the first female serial killer, together her and her killed a total of 120 men together. They would trick each of the men they killed into staying at their hotel where Lavinia would bring them tea that she poisoned whether they asked for it or not. Afterwards, she would lead all of her victims into the same room, where they would lay on the bed and die or worse get lowered down where her husband would finish them off.

Some Goofballs

Before leaving I want to tell you one last story, Denmark Vasey, was known to have attempted a slave rebellion and although they were planning on escaping to Haiti their plans failed them. Vasey was soon incarcerated and stayed in the fourth tower of the building. While guards hoped he would tell who worked with him he refused to give up his conspirators which led to him being hung. The last man to be hung here went by the name of Daniel Duncan in July of 1911.

Jail Keys

This jail tour was historic, but also shocking. There had been so many torture rooms seems like and it's hard to believe that people went through that kind of pain before departing this Earth. At one point the jail had been a medical hospital for the wounded in the Civil War and you guessed it if you thought they were mistreated as well. I hope whoever is reading this understands the history of this jail and that you take the liberty of looking further into it. The Old City Jail will no longer be what it was when I visited. I know this comes across as shocking but the city wants to turn it into office buildings and only the first floor will be dedicated to history. As haunted as this building seems it's really sad to see history go down the drain for office buildings that they could build somewhere else.

As always Tanderanians, I hope you're safe out there and that you learn something about the world around you. Have a good summer.

Last Class Photo