Old Joliet Prison Tours

As a photographer I am constantly trying to push myself and challenge myself to do things that not a lot of people have tried.  On Facebook, I am a member of some pretty cool sights within FB, most of them for photographers.  Abandoned Midwest is one I really like.  On this sight is where I learned of the Photography Tour of the Old Joliet Prison.

For those of you unfamiliar with this prison, if you watched the television show Prison Break, it was filmed here, as were the opening scenes from a well known movie, The Blues Brothers.  The prison was not just a movie prop though.  Some of the most notorious prisoners it held were, Baby Faced Nelson and John Wayne Gacy*.  It housed as many prisoners as nearly 1,400 prisoners at one time.  Built in the 1850's it was loaded with led paint and asbestos so it was closed in 2002.  They have three tours for the public, one is a general tour which is fully guided, I believe.  The second is for those interested in the paranormal or a ghost tour, again, I believe, this is a fully guided tour.  The third is the one I went on for photographers.  Basically you are give full access to the prison property with the exception of those places where it is unsafe to get too, and the tour starts with a mini lecture or brief history and you are shown where things are, and then you are on your own, from basically 8:30 a.m. until noon.  This is a tour that I will do again and again, although the price is not cheap, $50, it was, to me, worth every dime and every minute spend their.

 This is a back side view of the main building.  Since the building sat idol from 2002 until recently, there are many spots where the decay has gotten so bad that there is a fear that the buildings will crumble.

 On the picture below, you will see the damage I was talking about, cracking walls!

 All of this photos are from the main building where you come in, mostly from the back side.  I did not take photos of the front of the building because I had done so previously, shame on me, I should have because of the different light.

Because of Asbestos and Led Paint, they ask you (It is not required) to wear surgical mask, for your protection, and I am certainly glad I did!  At the height of the prisons existence, it was making money, lots of it!  The old saying of Making Big Rocks Into Little Rocks, well, this was actually done here!  There was a quarry where prisoner did just that, made big rocks into little ones and then onto a machine which further broke them down to pebbles.   There was also a Mattress Factory, where they made mattresses.  Since the property sat uninhabited for so many years there is a lot of graffiti, some of which is done quite well, and there has been a lot of damage, including an arson fire in the old Mattress Factory.  Below are some of the photos of graffiti and the burnt out factory...

The next few were taken from the burnt out mattress factory which was, again, destroyed by and arson fire in 2017.

 The photo above is taken from an office in the mattress factory, I just liked the way this looked all framed out.

 As you can imagine, the glass in the buildings are all fairly thick and mostly ornate, but, we all know that glass melts or burns so most of the class throughout the building are shattered.  Below is some of the graffiti I mentioned, obviously done between 2002 and now.

You can see the above graffiti in the dining hall.  Not all of the graffiti in the buildings are good, a lot are just trash that kids wrote which I have not need for, so I won't give them a spot here in my blog.  I am kind of jumping around here, and for that, I apologize.

Going back to the main reason you have a prison and the places that hold the prisoners, the cells.  Below are some photos which, at first glance may be disturbing because of all of the rot and decay, but, this is what intrigued me to come in the first place.  The first few are of the halls that lead to the cells.  Most of the building were in the same general condition with things falling from or dangling from the ceiling.  

There are several buildings on the property, including the quarters for the Warden and his family, and of course the prison laundry, photos below.

As you can see, there is a tremendous amount to see on this tour, and I was glad to have free rein to go where I wanted.  They said, at the beginning to go in pairs, mainly because if you are off on your own, and you fall through the floor or floors that someone will know where you are.  I went off on my own, but, like always, I was extremely cautious everywhere I went, and never felt in danger at all...

 The above and below pictures were taken in the Solitary Confinement building.  The photo below, was like a tease to and for the prisoners, representing "Freedom".

 This photo was taken in the infirmary or hospital.  The ornate, yet still broken glass appealed to me.

 SMILE!  As one of the graffiti artist had tagged the window in the hospital.

Last but not least is the prisons motto, IT'S NEVER TO LATE TO MEND.

This may be my longest post to date, but, it is because I enjoyed myself tremendously.  I hope you have enjoyed my walk through the Old Joliet Prison.  If I have gotten my facts wrong, I apologize, but, I think I am spot on in most of it.  As always, I appreciate comments, feedback and suggestions from photographers and anyone who likes my posts.  If you are in need of a photographer, please do not hesitate to reach out.  I can be reached at mwnphotography@gmail.com or by phone at 847.636.9130.  Thank you again until next time...

* I stand corrected about John Wayne Gacy.  Gacy never did time at Joliet but in nearby Crest Hill at the Stateville Correctional Facility where he died by lethal injection.  Sorry for my error.