Free previewStop 2 of Route 66 in Illinois: Chicago to the Chain of Rocks Bridge
The Prisoners Who Built Their Own Walls
You've pulled up beside Old Joliet Prison, the one locals still call the Collins Street Prison. Look at those walls, pale gray stone that has gone dark in the seams. That's limestone, and it didn't come from far away. It was dug out of the ground right here. The men who dug it were the prison's first inmates.
In May 1858, a few dozen prisoners arrived from the old state penitentiary at Alton, down on the Mississippi. Illinois had leased their labor to a contractor named Lorenzo Sanger and a warden named Samuel Casey. The prisoners' job was to quarry stone from a vein that runs through Will County, a few hundred feet from this spot, and build a prison around themselves. They lived in a small structure on the grounds while they worked, and the museum says that building still stands.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 2 of Route 66 in Illinois: Chicago to the Chain of Rocks Bridge (3 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
