10/20/2009:
In 1883, the Territorial Legislative Assembly at Yankton enacted a bill for the establishment of a prison in Bismarck, and "$50,000 was appropriated for this purpose." The completion of the penitentiary was reported on this date in 1884. And in 1885, the prison received its first inmates when thirty-five men were transferred to the facility from Sioux Falls.
The original prison, not yet called the State Penitentiary, but simply the Bismarck Penitentiary to distinguish it from the Yankton and Sioux Falls prisons, consisted of a single central building. In addition to the prison cells, the building housed the Warden's office, guard apartments, a dining hall, a chapel, a kitchen, and a barber shop. Eventually, appropriations were made to add a boiler house and laundry room, stables, and an outer wall.
The early inmates spent a large amount of their time doing agricultural work, as the prison sought ways to employ prison labor in productive tasks. By 1914, the penitentiary owned 393 acres of farmland. Warden Dan Williams also sought to employ the prisoners in coal mining for the state, as well as outside employment. In 1892, a contract was made between the prison and Mr. C. O. Smith of Casselton to employ twenty inmates for five years to make harnesses. The inmates were paid fifty cents a day for their work.
Warden Williams also worked to improve the prison through several recommended additions. He proposed the building of a library and hospital on the grounds, and worked to oversee private book donations until the library could be established. To help the Warden with his tasks, the position of Deputy Warden was created in 1887. Former Deputy Sheriff C. W. Haggart of Cass County was appointed to this position in 1891.
The prison today is largely the result of additions and amendments that occurred after North Dakota became a state in 1889. The maximum capacity of the prison today is 517.
Dakota Datebook written by Jayme L. Job
Source:
The Sun Morning Alert, Sunday, Oct. 20, 1884: p.7.