Today we toured the historic and notorious Kingston Penitentiary. A maximum security prison, “KP” housed some of Canada’s worst criminals and was the site of some of the worst prisoner treatment. It opened on June 1, 1835, and permanently closed 178 years later on September 30, 2013. It’s imposing limestone buildings were built by (unpaid) inmate labour.
This is the former machine shop where inmates worked. There was also a metal shop, a canvas shop (that made mail bags), a barber shop, a and an electrical shop.
My dad once gave me a book of the Top 150 Unusual Things to See in Ontario, and my husband and I try to see them whenever we get the chance; the Kingston Pen Museum is in there, but we have avoided it thus far... It particularly creeps me out/makes me sad for some reason. Obviously there were a lot of upsetting/bad things that happened there, but I've seen battlefields, and toured Anne Frank House, and... I don't know, there's just something about the penitentiary that makes me overly uncomfortable.
The perspective and the narrative are sobering. We've visited Alcatraz and "goels" in Australia... ALL sobering. But in America we need some medium... Crime truly is rampant, and "trying to live daily life, always looking over your shoulder" is pretty sobering as well!
Really cool pov. I don't really know why, but prisons and the culture inside kind of fascinate me. Sometimes I watch prison shows on tv. I must be sick, lol. Would love to see more photos of this place.
They had it right back then. Make the prisoners work. Make them think long and hard as to whether they want to continue a life of crime. Not like today.
Great perspective.
September 23rd, 2022
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This is a cool photo though, I like the symmetry!
Great perspective.