Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility

Colorado's oldest prison, built in 1871 by the inmates themselves. The last executions by hanging and gas chamber in the state happened here. Alfred Packer — the Colorado Cannibal — was among its more notorious residents.

The Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility in Canon City is the oldest prison in the state, opened on January 13, 1871, when Colorado was still a territory. For over 150 years, the prison has housed thousands of inmates behind its imposing stone walls in the shadow of the Royal Gorge. The current museum building was constructed in 1935 and first served as a women's prison from 1935 to 1968. When the women's facility was relocated, the building was converted into the Museum of Colorado Prisons, which opened to the public in 1988. Ghost stories on the prison grounds have been told since at least 1897, making this one of the longest-running haunted reputations of any correctional facility in the American West.

The museum has been singled out as one of the most haunted sites in Colorado by multiple paranormal organizations. The spirits here are described as not only vocal but physical -- visitors have reported having their hair pulled, being pushed from behind, and feeling hands grab at their arms and clothing. Cell 19 is the most actively haunted location in the building, where a female prisoner died during the women's prison era. Her ghost has been seen standing in the cell, and visitors who enter report the temperature plunging and an overwhelming sense of dread. The old laundry room generates reports of pockets of icy air and the strong smell of fresh tobacco smoke when no one is present.

In the former women's prison kitchen, the figure of a woman is frequently seen standing in the same spot, as if frozen in the act of working. Upstairs, chairs have been observed moving across the floor on their own, sliding from one position to another with no explanation. Throughout the museum, visitors have reported coughing and screaming sounds with no visible source, floating orbs of light, and the sensation of being followed through the cellblocks. EVP recordings captured during investigations have produced voices and sounds that investigators attribute to former inmates.

The Museum of Colorado Prisons offers several paranormal investigation experiences, including multi-hour evening patrols of the cellblocks and overnight events for serious investigators. Ghost Hunts USA has partnered with the museum to provide structured ghost hunting experiences. The combination of the prison's age, its documented history of violence and suffering, and the confined architecture of narrow cellblocks and windowless rooms creates an environment that even skeptical visitors describe as deeply unsettling.