architecture – Page 4

Prison Series, No. 6.

Prison Series, No. 5.

Prison Series, No. 4.

Prison Series, No. 3.

Prison Series, No. 2.

Prison Series, No. 1.

All of the photos in this set are of the Yuma Territorial Prison, now a state historic park in Yuma, Arizona. The facility housed over 3,000 prisoners between 1876 and 1910. It was the unreached destination in Elmore Leonard’s famous short story, “Three-Ten to Yuma.”

Fun Fact: The Yuma Union High School occupied the prison from 1910 to 1914. A rival high school derisively dubbed the Yuma school’s football team “The Criminals,” so of course the name was embraced by the students, with vigor. A scowling criminal is still the school mascot, though the school has relocated to less grim surroundings. My high school was in a brand new building, and our mascot was a mustang, but it sometimes felt like prison just the same.