Old Joliet Prison

This gothic prison opened in 1858 and held criminals until 2002 — including John Wayne Gacy and Richard Speck. It was designed by the same architect who built the Chicago Water Tower, and it later played the fictional prison in "The Blues Brothers" and "Prison Break."

Old Joliet Prison, officially the Illinois State Penitentiary, opened in 1858 to address overcrowding at the Alton prison. Constructed of locally quarried Joliet limestone--much of it by the prisoners themselves--the imposing Gothic structure with its 25-foot walls became immediately iconic. The prison housed some of America's most notorious criminals, including mass murderer Richard Speck, serial killer John Wayne Gacy (the "Killer Clown"), bank robber Baby Face Nelson, James Earl Ray (assassin of Martin Luther King Jr.), and the infamous "thrill killers" Leopold and Loeb.

The prison's brutal conditions were condemned as early as 1972 when a congressional subcommittee described it as having "a medieval air about it... dark and damp." Despite calls for closure, Joliet continued housing inmates until 2002 when the last prisoners were transferred to nearby Stateville Correctional Center.

Ghostly activity has been documented since the prison opened to the public. With an untold number of deaths over its 144-year operational history--including murders, beatings, and a mysterious 1932 incident involving "singing from the convict cemetery" that caused a media frenzy--the grounds seem saturated with restless energy.

Visitors report encounters with the dismembered ghost of a prisoner killed in the old segregation building. The unsolved murder of a warden's wife from the early 20th century has left another spirit wandering the grounds. Dark figures and strange mists appear regularly in photographs taken during tours, while visitors report equipment malfunctions that can't be accounted for, particularly in the main yard.

The prison gained pop culture fame as a filming location for "The Blues Brothers" (1980)--John Belushi's character "Joliet Jake" Blues was shown being released from these very gates--and the television series "Prison Break."

Ghost hunters Ursula Bielski and the Joliet Hauntings Crew conducted the first authorized paranormal investigations in 2018, and the site has since been featured on Ghost Adventures and Destination Fear. Today, the Joliet Area Historical Museum operates tours including self-guided, haunted history, and overnight paranormal investigations, preserving both the prison's grim history and its supernatural reputation.