Joliet Prison was built utilizing convict labor, using limestone quarried at the site and was opened in 1858. It housed prisoners of war during The Civil War, as well as infamous Illinois criminals John Wayne Gacy and Richard Speck. The prison remained in operation until 2002. Joliet Prison's main claim to fame though is the fact that it was used in the movie The Blues Brothers, as well as several others....
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Today the prison is shuttered, run down and falling apart. It stands at the intersection of Collins and Woodruff. As you can see, the prison was large and imposing. The limestone walls were beautiful.
The geocache was hidden in the parking lot and we quickly found it. Can you spot it?
The parking lot of the prison has several information signs staggered about. I tried to take pictures of them, but they were all a little too high for me to get clear shots of them all. If you click on them to enlarge them you can read most of them....
Across the street are more prison buildings....
The signage also gives good information about some of the other historic things to see and do in Joliet, such as being along the famous Rt. 66 roadway, old gas pumps and the Rialto Theater...
So be sure to come back tomorrow to see what else we discovered on our geocaching trip to Joliet!
One more thing: A BIG congrats to my buddy Kevin, aka Bloodhounded! His CacheCrazy blog has been chosen as "Blog of the Week" at NEPA Blogs. Check out the video about it here.
For more information on Joliet Prison, you can go here.
If you're not familiar with geocaching, you can read more here.
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Interesting building, we should be saving them not let them detereate. That's what I like about geocaching, the chance to visit historic places. Good blob.
ReplyDeleteIt kills me to see pieces of our history falling apart and neglected like that. It's too bad they don't have the money to fix it up and do something with it.
DeleteWow, what a neat bit of history! Yes, too bad it's falling apart. You'd think whoever owns it would want to restore the bldg and offer tours.
ReplyDeleteYou guys always find the coolest places to visit!
ReplyDeleteKiller post Kim (and thanks for the shout out too:)
ReplyDeleteI love locations like this. I close my eyes an imagine how it was with the hustle and bustle of when it was in operation. It is also interesting to note that they say this prison is haunted by many tormented souls. Great place for a night cache, lol!
Impressive place!
ReplyDeleteI wonder why they just let these sturdy old things run down instead of renovating them and keeping them in use?
Very cool place. It looks huge. I am like Cris - why do they let them run to pot?
ReplyDeleteLack of funds most likely.
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