This prison was in operation from 1901-1981. It was the first state penitentiary and it housed some of Wyoming’s worst and most violent offenders. This prison operated in a time when there was no such thing as “prisoner’s rights”. The prison boasted both a dungeon-house where intractable inmates were sent to be punished and a whipping pole that inmates were cuffed to and beaten. This prison housed Wyoming’s death row, and nine men were hanged and five died in the gas chamber there. In addition to state-sanctioned executions, several men died there in riots, escape attempts, suicides and murders, including one prisoner who was lynched by other inmates who were outraged that he had indecently and grossly assaulted an elderly, local townswoman. Approximately 250 people died here including both inmates and prison guards. The prison is a hotbed of paranormal activity with ghost hunters claiming there are both residual and active hauntings occurring there. The negative energy from the prison’s brutal 80 year history has coalesced into several different phenomena. People hear voices, there are cold spots and several people have reported seeing full-body apparitions of former inmates. The Prison now offers tours and for a hefty fee, you can reserve blocks of time to do your own individual paranormal investigation if you wish.
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Geographic Information
- Address:
- 500 W Walnut St
Rawlins, WY 82301
United States
Get Directions » - GPS:
- 41.79272915301559, -107.24255182460632
- County:
- Carbon County, Wyoming
- Nearest Towns:
- Rawlins, WY (0.2 mi.)
Sinclair, WY (6.8 mi.)
Saratoga, WY (32.4 mi.)
Bairoil, WY (35.2 mi.)
Hanna, WY (35.4 mi.)
Wamsutter, WY (38.9 mi.)
Elk Mountain, WY (43.4 mi.)
Riverside, WY (46.4 mi.)
Encampment, WY (46.6 mi.)
Ryan Park, WY (50.0 mi.)
Contact Information
- Web:
- http://www.wyomingfrontierprison.org/
Please note: It is your responsibility to acquire appropriate permissions before investigating any location listed on this site. Private property should be respected at all times, as should all posted signs concerning trespassing, hours of operation and other local regulations. Many "ghost hunters" have been arrested because they failed to contact property owners and/or local authorities ahead of time.
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Disclaimer: The stories posted here are user-submitted and are, in the nature of "ghost stories," largely unverifiable. HauntedPlaces.org makes no claims that any of the statements posted here are factually accurate. The vast majority of information provided on this web site is anecdotal, and as such, should be viewed in the same light as local folklore and urban legends.
Well I was a young girl my parents took me and my older brother on a tour of the Prison. I remember turning around a corner and watching a man hang himself in one of the cells. When the man was hanging there I was in shock but out of everyone on the tour I was the only one who saw it. As I continued to walk threw the Prison I felt as if someone was walking behind me but when I turned all I saw was a black cat walking the opposite direction.
I went to this prison about a year ago and payed to take the tour. The prison is very scary in some places but mostly in dark places. You can for sure feel a sense of the paranormal but nothing is like being in one of the cells. The tour guide asked me to stand in the back of a dark cell because I was wearing a dark shirt to show how hard it was to see inmates. when I stepped in my whole mood changed to a complete dark mood and I felt like something was in there with me! but don’t let that intimidate you from visiting its a very cool place to visit!
Was just curious…how much is this fee??????
In 1989 I was on the tour with my then girlfriend and her daughter. I was strapped into the gas chamber chair for a photo. I felt something grab my shoulder while sitting there. In the photo you can see a hand and arm shaped mist above my shoulder that was grabbed. Ended up having a big fight with my GF on that trip and we broke up shortly after we got home. She had the photo unfortunately.
Went there a few days back, the first thing I saw as I jumped from the car was this young deer staring at me from within the prison’s fencing. I sat in the gas chamber, was the head of the group (other than the guide of course) and when we went up to death row, I ended up standing right in the guillotine platform, didn’t even notice it a first, then when someone mentioned it, I ended up stepping back to where the other prisoners did before their deaths…. Was not fond of this, haha.
Anyways, throughout majority of the tour I didn’t feel ‘creeped out’ or watched what so ever, in fact, kinda felt ‘normal’ to be there….
It wasn’t until the group got to where the cemented over dungeon area was, when I suddenly felt an urge of uncontrollable anxiety. The building that was over it our guide had said it was there, but was cemented over some time ago, didn’t even know about it before.
You know, now that I come to think of it, there was no access way the deer I had seen, to be able to get into where I saw it… My parents were with me when I got out, and when I told them there was a deer, we turned back to look and it was no where in sight.
Creepiness factor overall: 50/50.
Is it haunted: eh, maybe.
Very disappointed for not being able to go around more rooms and places in the tour, but overall, loved it.