Additional Photos / Stories
Anamosa State Penitentiary

Gallery of Wardens

1905 Picture Series!

More Stories!

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  1. 1911 Prison staff portrait, in clickable image map format! (added 7/10/97)
  2. What did the convicts have for supper in 1898? A typical week's menu. (added 7/11/97)
  3. Who is knocking at the prison gate?   A story from 1876. (added 7/12/97)
  4. Great Seal, inset in floor of prison entrance (added 7/16/97)
  5. LIONS, LIONS, AND MORE LIONS! (added 7/27/97)
  6. Summer sky forms the backdrop of the administration building. (added 7/27/97)
  7. Dairy Barn, built in 1929. At that time, the largest barn in the state. (added 7/27/97)
  8. Prison Cemetery. (added 7/27/97)
  9. View of prison, from cemetery. (added 7/27/97)
  10. Prison flower garden (added 7/27/97)
  11. Prison vegetable garden (added 7/27/97)
  12. "State Penitentiary" insignia on side of cellhouse (added 7/27/97)
  13. Guard's belt buckle and truncheon, c. 1900 (added 8/15/97)
  14. Prison Press article (1911) lamenting departure of Warden Barr (added 8/15/97)
  15. Closeup of above (added 8/15/97)
  16. Inmates ate silently in the dining hall for years. They communicated their need for extra helpings, etc. with a system of hand signals. (added 8/15/97)
  17. Prison Press advertisement for upcoming intramural football game (1937) (added 8/15/97)
  18. Monticello Express account of the 1963 riot. Click hyperlinks within the article for supporting photos (added 8/15/97)
  19. A stone model of the prison sat on display outside the administration building for many years (added 8/15/97)
  20. Born to raise hell: Charles and Bert Mecum (added 8/22/97)
  21. 1880's photos! (added 9/12/97)
  22. Another view of administration building. Note car on street, as well as hitching post (for horses) (added 10/13/97)
  23. Colorized postcard of Female Department. Note guard tower on south  wall (added 10/16/97)
  24. New photo of stonecutting yard (added 10/16/97)
  25. Closeup of photo above, showing inmates at work (added 10/16/97)
  26. Story: The escape of Anna Hower (added 2/19/98)
  27. Pictures: Female Department and beyond.
  28. Present-day auditorium, when it was still the prison chapel (courtesy Dick Snavely) (added 5/18/98)
  29. Another quarry photo (courtesy Dick Snavely) (added 5/18/98)
  30. MAJOR NEW COLLECTION, courtesy Larry Farrington (added 5/31/98)
  31. 1880's views, courtesy Paul Juhl (added 6/23/98)
  32. Cruisin' past the prison! (Courtesy Dick Snavely)(added 7/5/98)
  33. Story: Hard Labor in the Stonecutting Shed (added 8/27/98)
  34. Entire prison population in one long mural! (added 10/17/98)
  35. Garden at old Warden's residence circa late 1890's (added 11/18/98) (courtesy Eileen Bohman, via Ernie Rairdin)
  36. Closeup of Administration Building circa 1900, with only half the porch constructed (added 11/20/98).
  37. New Photos! The Credenza Collection (added 12/27/98).
  38. Story: Snapper Hortman (added 1/1/99)
  39. Rare aerial view from southwest (courtesy Dick Snavely - added 1/12/99)
  40. Workin' the stone -- prison quarry picture (courtesy Dick Snavely - added 1/12/99)
  41. The "Scovel Pamphlet"--1898 prison booklet in its entirety (courtesy Jay Scovel - added 3/4/99)
  42. Story: "The Wages Of Sin" (research aided by C. Tellers -- added 4/12/99)
  43. "Then and Now": Side-by-side comparison views (new images courtesy Ernie Rairdin -- added 4/16/99)
  44. "Papa's Men", according to the text on the card. Meaning unknown. (courtesy Dick Snavely - added 4/27/99)
  45. 1992 newspaper clipping of the prison's placement on National Register of Historic Places (courtesy John Wiese - added 7/21/99)
  46. "Tom Lunsford, Guard at Anamosa" according to the back of this card, circa 1905 (donated to ASP through generosity of Vic Elliott of Sidney, Ohio - added 7/21/99)
  47. A Grave Mistake: The Outlaw Polk Wells (added 8/22/99)
  48. High Street Gardens: Penitentiary Flower Beds (added 9/17/99)
  49. Deputy Warden's Residence: 1917 (courtesy Dick Snavely -- added 10/13/99)
  50. Yard View, circa 1901. Note guard atop yard tower. (courtesy Dick Snavely -- added 10/23/99)
  51. 112,470 Meals And Counting: The New Prison Dining Hall Opens March 28, 1897 (added 11/19/99)
  52. The Madden Collection (courtesy of Keith from California -- added 1/14/00)
  53. The Miller Group (courtesy Miller family of Anamosa -- added 3/19/00)
  54. Modern-day aerial photo of the prison (added 6/12/00)
  55. Baskets made by inmates at ASP in the 1920s (courtesy David Kapell -- added 8/24/00)
  56. The "grade" system and other recollections -- added 3/31/01)
  57. North Cellhouse, roofless, circa 1900 (courtesy Bertha Finn -- added 4/23/01)
  58. Another band picture, this one taken outside the institution (courtesy Dennie Hinrichs -- added 8/17/01)
  59. 1907 Recollections (added 3/3/02)
  60. John Gacy - from Anamosa to infamy (added 7/30/02)
  61. John Gacy - rare video footage 1969 (Windows Media Player needed) (added 12/21/02)
  62. The Smith Portraits (courtesy James Smith, Bend, OR -- added 8/28/02)
  63. Direful Tragedies: Battered Women Strike Back (added 10/4/02)
  64. The Stone Mementos (added 12/22/02)
  65. $50 Reward! (added 2/18/03)
  66. The Strange Case of John Wesley Elkins (reformatted 5/12/03)
  67. New additions to the Madden Collection (courtesy Keith Sebo, updated 5/12/03)
  68. Token Economy: A review of Anamosa's brass and aluminum "pop" tokens (added 6/23/03)
  69. Prison employees in cellhouse circa 1900 (courtesy Paul May and our colleagues at ISP-Ft. Madison (added 9/4/03)
  70. East railroad gate, 1880s (courtesy Dick Snavely -- added 9/23/03)
  71. The Disappearance of Elmer Dustin (added 11/28/03)
  72. GENEALOGISTS' CORNER:

+1885 Census of Penitentiary inmates (courtesy Richard Harrison and Don Thomsen -- added 9/2/02)
+The 1915 Index - Employee listing from 1873 - 1915 (added 9/29/02)
+Necrology: Inmate Deaths 1872-1915 (added 12/20/03)
+Prison Cemetery: Burials 1872 - 1965 (added 12/20/03)

  1. Prison Baseball Photos, early 20th century (added 1/16/04)
  2. Felix Pickworth, longtime prison chaplain (courtesy Jo Anne of Tulsa, OK - added 2/8/04)
  3. Rare and wonderful sports photos, 1920s (added 5/2/04)
  4. Variety Show, 1920s - includes inmates "in drag" (courtesy Rick Frankfurt - added 5/2/04)
  5.  1892 Staff Photo: | low res | hi res | (from 1938 Anamosa Journal Centennial edition, courtesy Jan Holub - added 8/21/04)
  6.  May 27, 1899 edition of The Prison Press (courtesy anonymous donor - added 9/17/04)
  7.  Siren of Doom - Delilah Fails (added 11/7/04)
  8.  To The Prison Born (added 11/8/04)
  9.  Tidbits - Assorted Short News Stories (added 11/28/04)
  10. OLDEST KNOWN PHOTO!  (courtesy Paul Juhl, added 8/3/05)
  11. Panoramic photograph of institution's frontage (added 1/29/06)
  12. A few classic 1890s photos (added 11/24/07)
  13. The Articulate Bigamist (added 3/2/08, courtesy Patricia Bryan)

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