Massachusetts State Prison

Biography

In 1803 the Massachusetts General Court passed an act approving the construction of a prison. The prison opened in 1805. In 1828, the construction of a north wing was underway. The construction of the south wing occurred in 1850. In 1853, the Legislature of Massachusetts voted to build a prison to replace Charlestown. The prison's space increased as time passed. By 1867 the state converted a guardroom into hundreds of prison cells. The new prison, MCI Concord, opened in May 1878. Many prisoners were transferred to the new prison. Governor of Massachusetts George D. Robinson signed a bill ordering prisoners to be moved back to Charlestown on May 21, 1884. In 1886 the west wing, with nearly 60 cells, was built in Charlestown. By 1903, of the prisoners at Charlestown, 75 were in life imprisonment, 54 had varying terms, and 863 were held under minimum and maximum sentence forms. In 1920 Charlestown began manufacturing and issuing license plates.The prison closed in November 1955, and prisoners were moved to other facilities.

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