Old Idaho State Penitentiary
Content Description
This collection documents the administration, operations, and inmate management of the Idaho State Penitentiary. Materials date primarily from the late nineteenth through the twentieth century and include inmate record files, registers, correspondence, reports, publications, photographs, and administrative forms. The records provide evidence of inmate intake, confinement, parole, and discharge, as well as the daily activities and oversight of the prison system. Also represented are legal and financial records such as vouchers, requisitions, pardons, remissions, and communications with the Board of Correction and other state agencies. Supplementary materials include inmate rosters, rule books, news clippings, pamphlets, and artifacts documenting the institutional culture and reforms leading up to the 1973 closure of the Old Idaho State Penitentiary and the subsequent establishment of the Idaho State Correctional Institution.
Dates
- Creation: 1872-1973
Access Restriction Note
Certain records within this collection contain personally identifiable information or materials restricted under the Idaho Public Records Act (Idaho Code § 74-101 through § 74-126). Access to these materials may be limited to protect privacy, confidentiality, and security interests as defined by law.
Records containing information about medical or mental health matters, sealed court proceedings, or victims of crime are restricted and may be redacted, withheld, or removed from public access in compliance with state statute.
Requests for review or access to restricted materials must be submitted to the Idaho State Archives for legal and administrative determination prior to release.
History
The Idaho State Penitentiary, located in Boise, Idaho, began operation in 1872, during the territorial period nearly two decades before Idaho achieved statehood in 1890. Constructed with local sandstone by inmate labor, the facility served as the state’s primary correctional institution for more than a century.
Over its 101 years of operation, the penitentiary underwent numerous expansions and reforms, reflecting changing penal philosophies and population growth. The site was often overcrowded and marked by harsh living conditions, leading to several inmate riots in 1952, 1971, and March 1973. The final riot caused extensive structural damage and prompted the state to close the facility later that year.
In December 1973, inmates were transferred to the newly constructed Idaho State Correctional Institution (ISCI) south of Boise, marking the end of the penitentiary’s active use. The Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC), established to oversee the state’s correctional facilities, assumed administrative control of the new institution and subsequent statewide correctional programs.
Today, the Old Idaho State Penitentiary is preserved and operated as a historic site by the Idaho State Historical Society, offering tours, educational programs, and exhibitions interpreting Idaho’s correctional history and the lives of those incarcerated there.
Extent
1516 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
English
- Title
- AR 42/2 Old Idaho State Penitentiary
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Government Records Repository