HISTORIC IOWA STATE PENITENTIARY

CELLHOUSE DISTRICT

In January 1839, following its incorporation into the Iowa Territories, Fort Madison became the seat of government for Lee County and the site of the Iowa Territorial Prison. Land was granted on the eastern edge of the young city, and construction began that year. The prison was designed to loosely resemble the Auburn Penitentiary style, first developed in Auburn, New York, between 1819 and 1821. The walls of the cell houses were constructed within a fortress-like exterior. Each cell block formed a shell with two rows of three to five tiers of offender cells, standing back-to-back away from the walls at the center. Although modifications have divided the original cell blocks horizontally and vertically, their original structures remain relatively intact. The historic cell houses district includes those that make up the eastern wall of the penitentiary. For historical purposes, this document encompasses the entire penitentiary within the limestone walls of the institution.

The cost of the construction was not to exceed $40,000. This amount only created the warden's house, 60 cells of the prison with no doors and only partial walls, as well as a wall around the prison yard that was fashioned out of pickets.

Prisoners were housed in a deep cellar that was dug and walled up under the hallway of the warden's house with a double oak floor that had a trap door in the center. At night, the occupants wore either a ball and chain on their ankles or a “necklace”. This “necklace” was an iron bar around their neck with two horns extending beyond the shoulders with points extending upward. Uniforms were created out of bed ticking along with hats that had the letters IP painted on them.
In 1840, there were only 12 prisoners with 7 of the 12 escaping by walking into the surrounding timber. - Wardens Report of 1840
1841 - The prison had only 4 cells with doors that were equipped with no locks.
The Laws of Iowa 1842 to 1843 - appropriated $10,000 annually that was to include:
$800 warden salary up to 10 assistants paid no more than $25 a month, provide food and clothing for inmates, obtain raw materials for manufacturing of barrels and casks and all other items necessary for operation of the prison.
The Laws of Iowa 1848 to 1849, page 83 - $6,000 was appropriated to complete the walls and roof of the cell house and to finish the cells. 1856, no provisions were in place for female convicts. One female convict was ordered in service into the warden's family to live and was employed making clothing for inmates.
1856 - No provisions were in place for female convicts. The one female convict was ordered into service to the warden’s family to live and was employed making clothing for inmates.
The Laws of Iowa, 1856-1857 - $2,900 was appropriated to rebuild workshops that were consumed by fire. $20,000 was appropriated to add 25 cells & hospital. (The hospital was never built, due to $20,000 being absorbed into operations.
The Laws of Iowa, 1858-1859
- Funding of an undisclosed amount was used to create 1 building that housed a hospital, chapel, dining room & kitchen.
- Entire west wall was completed in stone, 200 feet of the east wall was done, with the north wall still built of pickets.
1860 saw 108 cells in the prison for 123 inmates, some of which were women.
Legislative Document of 1868, Volume 2 - Report of Iowa Penitentiary Commission
- 4 female Prisoners being detained with the male population.
- $15,000 appropriated to extend cellhouse to east wall, $3,000 appropriated to create a was house, a store room & to securea cooking range.
- $6,000 appropriated to create a reservoir on the adjacent hill for water.
- It was brought to the legislators’ attention the barbaric use of a “cat-o-nine-tails” on prisoners & the prison’s lone tree being used as a whipping post.
In 1872 - $9,600 was appropriated for a foundry & gas fixtures for lighting.
In 1877 - Warden’s report to the legislators - He was housing his female prisoners in 2 rooms n the top floor of his house. (Number of female inmates not disclosed.)
1886-1887 - Legislation appropriated $7,500 towards the installation of an electric plant and electric lighting in the prison. It was completed by August 3rd of 1886.
1893 Warden’s Report to Legislators - A sewer was in the process of being built that would eliminate waste into the Mississippi River, 55 years after the prison opening.
Throughout 1800’s, it was attempted any times to use the inmates as contracted labor. One such attempt was documented in the Bulletin of Iowa State Institutions, Vol. II, Page 172, April 1900
“These country excursions were highly approved of by the convicts, as it was in reality a picnic for them, as they dined sumptuously at the farm houses, and in one instance they embraced the opportunity to quietly walk off with Warden JW Coheik’s old shot gun, while he was napping in the shade of the nearest tree.”
There were more midifications done to what is now referred to as cellhouse 17. it continued to be utilized up until its closed, following the prison riot of 1984.
In the early 1900s the Cellhouse Row portion of the prison was built. These areas are the subject of the NPS Iowa State Penitentiary Cellhouse Historic District. Listing 9200166.
Information for Cellhouse 17 and other frontier history of the prison was obtained from: History and Development of Fort Madison Penitentiary, 1839-1933 - Master’s Degree Thesis: Beulah White Walker, University of Iowa, 1934.

BUILDINGS AND VIEWS OF HISTORIC ISP

An old brick wall with a tunnel entrance, a train emerging from it, and a factory smokestack in the background.

A man in a uniform walking through a hallway inside a jail or prison with barred cells on the right and a staircase overhead.

Historical black-and-white photograph of the Iowa State Prison at Fort Madison, Iowa, showing a tall water tower, a smokestack releasing smoke, a prison wall, and surrounding buildings and landscape.

A black and white photograph of a large historic building with a tower on the left and several windows. A tree is in front of the building, and a vintage car is parked near an archway on the left. There are stairs leading up to the building, and some handwritten text at the bottom.

Iowa State Penitentiary All Lifers ball team

Prisoner Identification

A black and white photograph of a young person with short hair, wearing a striped shirt, with a surprised or intense facial expression. There are small paper tickets or labels above their head, and the background is filled with small confetti or paper pieces.

Two years after the start of Historic ISP, there were only 12 inmates, 7 of which escaped. Without completed cells and a way to account for inmates, ths remained an issue. Hand written notes were utilized that identified scars, etc. The facility’s first camera was purchased at some point during the mid 1800s. The camera produced glass plate negatives that required inmates had to remain perfectly still. Prison officials assured this good posture with the use of a metal frame that the inmate sat against, with their number affixed above their head.

Historical black and white photo of Missouri State Prison in Missouri, featuring a large stone wall, guard tower, and water tower with a hilly landscape in the background.

The Wall

The historic Iowa State Penitentiary is enclosed by an imposing 30-foot-high wall, which is more than three feet thick at its base and narrows to 18 inches at the top. A catwalk runs along the top, once used by guards manning the prison’s guard towers.

In the early 1800s, quarried stone was difficult to obtain, leading to the prison’s walls initially being constructed from wooden boards as a temporary substitute. Funding for a permanent stone wall was appropriated by the Iowa Legislature in 1857. The west wall, built on a foundation extending six feet below the surface, was completed in 1859. The east wall stretched approximately 200 feet, with a wooden plank fence completing the enclosure on the east and north sides.

An 1866 Warden’s Report to the Iowa Legislature noted that the stone wall surrounding the prison yard was nearly complete—23 years after the Iowa Territorial Prison’s induction. The stone wall seen today was fully constructed following the completion of Cellhouse 20 in 1938 and an expansion of the exercise yard.

PEOPLE OF HISTORIC IOWA STATE PENITENTIARY

Two men standing and holding a shackle, one is a prison guard in uniform, the other is a young man in a jacket. The image is from 1957 at the Iowa State Penitentiary.

JACK NUTTER: Any one who served as correctional officer, administrator, counselor, etc. at the Iowa State Prison in recent years will remember Jack Nutter who passed away at the new prison December 8, 2021 at age 84.
This picture was when he mustered into death row in 1957 as a 19 year old condemned man. As years went by Iowa did away with the death penalty and Jack spent years behind the walls he loved. After he was transferred to new Correctional Center he wanted to return to home - the old prison. Find his interview on the documentary “The Fort: 177 Years of Law & Punishment at the Iowa State Penitentiary” at the bottom of this page or learn more here.

A man running near a tall brick wall with a tower in the background, black and white photo.

ROBERT POINDEXTER: Poindexter was convicted in 1950 of robbing a railroad ticket office and was housed at the Iowa State Penitentiary. He gained international recognition in 1960 for running a four minute mile, the only person in a penal institution to do so.'

Back in the days that ISP had great open to public sporting events with baseball, softball, football, wrestling, boxing teams that played opponents from as far as Chicago area.