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ALTON MILITARY PRISON SITE
Constructed in 1833. It was not only Illinois first state penitentiary but also the state’s first institution of any kind. It grew from a structure containing 24 cells to one containing 256 cells in 1857. Conditions became deplorable over time and Dorothy Dix campaigned to close it. The penitentiary was closed in 1857 when the new prison at Joliet was opened. However, in 1862, it was reopened as a military prison during the Civil War. Thousands of captured confederate prisoners were housed here during the war. In 1863, a small pox epidemic spread through the prison killing hundreds. The prison was closed down for a second time in 1865 at the close of the war. The prison was then dismantled, except for a portion of a wall which was relocated in 1970 to its present location.
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