Jacktown: History & Hard Times at Michigan's First State Prison (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781467135238)

Competing with the likes of Detroit and Ann Arbor, Jackson won the battle to build Michigan's first state prison in 1838. During the era of the Big House and industrial growth, the penitentiary's on-site factories and cheap inmate labor helped Jackson become a thriving manufacturing city. In contrast to Jacktown's beautiful Greco-Roman exterior, medieval punishments, a strict code of silence, no heat, no electricity and a lack of plumbing defined life on the inside. Author Judy Gail Krasnow shares the incredible stories of life at Jacktown, replete with sadistic wardens, crafty escapees, Prohibition's Purple Gang, a chaplain who ran a brothel and influential reformers.

Author: Judy Gail Krasnow
ISBN-10: 1467135232
ISBN-13: 9781467135238
Publisher: History Press
Language: English
Published: 02/06/2017
Pages: 176
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.50d