The Yuma Territorial Prison was a prison built by prisoners in 1875.
The prison opened while Arizona was still a U.S. territory.
Conditions in the prison were harsh.
Some prisoners had to sleep in steel bunkbeds.
The prison also has a "Dark Room" in which some prisoners were sent for solitary confinement as a formof punishment.
During the next 33 years, 3,069 prisoners were incarcerated there, including 29 women.
 Among the notable prisoners was Jack Swilling, a.k.a.
the "Father of Phoenix", who was accused and incarcerated for a crime that he did not commit.
Swilling died in the prison in 1878.
Also, among those incarcerated were:
Burt Alvord – Cochise County lawman and train robber
Bill Downing - Notorious outlaw and train robber
William J. Flake – Mormon pioneer imprisoned for violating the Edmunds Act
Pearl Hart – stagecoach robber
"Buckskin Frank" Leslie – gunfighter and killer of Billy Claiborne
Ricardo Flores Magón – Mexican revolutionary, founder of the Partido Liberal Mexicano
Pete Spence – outlaw involved in the Earp-Clanton feud
The prison is one of the Yuma Crossing and Associated Sites on the National Register of Historic Places in the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area.
The site is now operated as a historical museum by Arizona State Parks as Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park.
The Yuma Territorial Prison was a prison built by prisoners in 1875. The prison opened while Arizona was still a U.S. territory. Conditions in the prison were harsh. Some prisoners had to sleep in steel bunkbeds. The prison also has a "Dark Room" in which some prisoners were sent for solitary confinement as a formof punishment. During the next 33 years, 3,069 prisoners were incarcerated there, including 29 women.  Among the notable prisoners was Jack Swilling, a.k.a. the "Father of Phoenix", who was accused and incarcerated for a crime that he did not commit. Swilling died in the prison in 1878. Also, among those incarcerated were:
Burt Alvord – Cochise County lawman and train robber
Bill Downing - Notorious outlaw and train robber
William J. Flake – Mormon pioneer imprisoned for violating the Edmunds Act
Pearl Hart – stagecoach robber
"Buckskin Frank" Leslie – gunfighter and killer of Billy Claiborne
Ricardo Flores Magón – Mexican revolutionary, founder of the Partido Liberal Mexicano
Pete Spence – outlaw involved in the Earp-Clanton feud
The prison is one of the Yuma Crossing and Associated Sites on the National Register of Historic Places in the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area. The site is now operated as a historical museum by Arizona State Parks as Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park.
List of historic properties in Yuma, Arizona