The Oh, Welcome to the latest episode of American Hauntings, the podcast dedicated to the history,

hauntings, legends, and lore of America's past. hosted by Cody Beck and Troy Taylor

our first season explores the hauntings of Alton, Illinois, one of the most haunted small towns in America.

This is the second of a special two-part episode about the infamous Alton Penitentiary, the first

prison in Illinois, and one of the most brutal Confederate prisons during the Civil War. The Alton Penitentiary which had opened as the first prison in Illinois was opened in

1833 and remained in operation until he closed down 26 years later amid accusations

of death, malfeasance, and abuse.

The horrible conditions of the penitentiary remain a black mark on the city's history,

and it is the prison itself that has become famous as a place where death came calling

for literally hundreds of men.

It's a place where even today the dead do not rest in peace.

The closure of the Alton Penitentiary began in 1859

and within a year the buildings were abandoned but

they would not remain that way for long. In the early days of the Civil War

Alton became a military post thanks to its strategic location on the Mississippi River.

In an effort to ease the overcrowding at Confederate prisoner of war camps in St. Louis,

Major General Henry Hallick obtained permission from Illinois Governor Richard Yates to reopen the Alton

Penitentiary. The filthy prison was still unfit for human habitation, but in its

present situation it passed military inspection. Soldiers set fire inside of the prison to try and clean the place out and a few days later on February 9, 1862, the first Confederate prisoners arrived.

Three days later, the prison was already overcrowded.

By the time it had closed down, the Alton Penitentiary had been enlarged to hold a maximum of about 800 men,

but throughout most of the war it held between 1,500 and 2,000 men at a time.

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