Nevada State Prison

Image:Abraham Curry.png was the first warden of the prison.]]

Image:Nevada State Capitol, 1875.jpg was built with stone from the prison's quarry.]]

The prison was established in 1862 by the Nevada Territorial Legislature at the site of the Warm Springs Hotel, located east of Carson City in Nevada Territory. The legislature had been leasing the hotel from Abraham Curry and using the prison quarry to provide stone material for the Nevada State Capitol. In 1864, the territorial legislature acquired the hotel along with {{convert|20|acre|ha}} of land from Curry, who was appointed the first warden of the prison. In October of that year, Nevada became a state and the newly written constitution established that the Lieutenant Governor of Nevada also functioned as the ex-officio warden of the prison. The Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General comprise the board of prison commissioners.{{cite web|title=Board of State Prison Commissioners|url=http://www.doc.nv.gov/?q=node/73|work=Nevada Dept. of Corrections|access-date=30 September 2011}}

In 1867, a fire destroyed the original building. In 1870, a major portion of the prison burned down and was rebuilt with inmate labor and stone from the on-site quarry.

On September 17, 1871, lieutenant governor and warden Frank Denver was seriously injured in a prison break that involved 27 inmates.{{cite web|last=Rocha|first=Guy|url=http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1707&Itemid=418|title=Myth 142: Brothers Denver|website=Nevada State Library and Archives|year=2010|access-date=November 3, 2010}}{{cite news|title=The great Carson City prison escape of 1871|author=Dolan, Trent|newspaper=Nevada Appeal|url=https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/local/the-great-carson-city-prison-escape-of-1871/|date=October 9, 2008|access-date=September 20, 2018|archive-date=September 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920234726/https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/local/the-great-carson-city-prison-escape-of-1871/|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|work=NevadaGram|publisher=Nevada Travel Network|date=November 14, 2015|title=The Great Escape from Carson City, September 17, 1871|url=http://nevadagram.com/the-great-escape-from-carson-city-september-17-1871/}}

In 1872, Denver refused to concede the prison to Pressly C. Hyman, who had been appointed the new warden under legislation that repealed that responsibility from the lieutenant governor. Governor Lewis R. Bradley sent troops in March 1873 to force Denver to surrender.{{cite book|last=Earl|first=Phillip I.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pg0SAQAAIAAJ&q=Denver|title=This Was Nevada, Volume 2|publisher=Nevada Historical Society|year=2000|access-date=November 3, 2010}}

The prison was expanded in 1964 by the Northern Nevada Correctional Center.{{cite web|title=Northern Nevada Correctional Center|url=http://www.doc.nv.gov/?q=node/28|work=Nevada Dept. of Corrections|access-date=30 September 2011}} The Nevada State Prison operated as a maximum security facility until 1989, when Ely State Prison was opened to fulfill that function.

After Nevada Governor Fred Balzar signed Assembly Bill 98 into law and legalized gambling in the state, Nevada State Prison did the unthinkable and opened a casino for inmates. Nicknamed the Bullpen, the casino was a success for three decades before it was eventually shut down.{{cite news |last1=Buergin |first1=Miles |title=Knowing Nevada: A casino inside the Nevada State Prison |url=https://mynews4.com/news/knowing-nevada/knowing-nevada-a-casino-inside-the-nevada-state-prison |access-date=23 July 2020 |agency=mynews4.com}}

The casino operated in a windowless solid rock room carved from natural sandstone surrounding the prison before it was moved to a larger sandstone building with walls sometime in the 1930s. During its 30-year operation, the casino offered traditional games such as blackjack, craps and poker and inmates ran the entire casino, from hosting games to organizing security. Inmates also had their own currency in denominations of 5c, 10c, 25c, 50c, $1 and $5 which were used at the casino. Today, the currency is considered a collector's item.

The Bullpen's closure came after new Nevada Governor Paul Laxalt hired Carl Hocker as the prison's warden. Hocker ordered the casino to be shut down and for gambling to be replaced with more "wholesome" activities such as volleyball, ping pong and painting. The bullpen officially closed in April 1967 and the sandstone building that housed the casino was knocked down.

{{Main|Capital punishment in Nevada}}

Prior to 2016, prisoners facing capital punishment were held at Ely State Prison and were sent to Nevada State Prison's execution chamber to be executed. In 2016, a new execution chamber was opened at Ely and the chamber at the Nevada State Prison was closed.{{cite news|author=Whaley, Sean|url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/nevadas-new-860000-execution-chamber-is-finished-but-gathering-dust/|title=Nevada's new $860,000 execution chamber is finished but gathering dust|newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal|date=2016-11-27|access-date=2017-04-23}}

This prison became the state-designated facility for all hangings in 1903. In response to Mormon preferences,{{cite book|last=Christianson|first=Scott|author-link=Scott Christianson|title=The Last Gasp: The Rise and Fall of the American Gas Chamber|url=https://archive.org/details/lastgasprisefall0000chri|url-access=registration|quote=Andriza Mircovich.|publisher=University of California Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/lastgasprisefall0000chri/page/62 62]|year=2010|access-date=November 3, 2010|isbn=9780520255623}} the Nevada State Legislature passed a statute in 1910 that became effective in January 1911,{{cite news|title=To Be Shot To Death.|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fa40AAAAIBAJ&sjid=94QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3310,5382132&dq=nevada+execution|newspaper=The Montreal Gazette|page=1|date=June 17, 1912|access-date=November 9, 2010}} allowing condemned prisoners to choose between execution by shooting or hanging.{{cite web |last=Rocha |first=Guy Louis |title=An Outline of Capital Punishment in Nevada (catid 135) |url=http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=960:an-outline-of-capital-punishment-in-nevada&catid=135:archives-special-features |publisher=Nevada State Library and Archives |access-date=November 8, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722131841/http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=960%3Aan-outline-of-capital-punishment-in-nevada&catid=135%3Aarchives-special-features |archive-date=July 22, 2011 |url-status=dead }}

File:Andriza Mircovich NSP mug shot.png was the first and only inmate in Nevada to be executed by shooting.]]

On May 14, 1913, Andriza Mircovich became the first and only inmate in Nevada to be executed by shooting.{{cite web|title=Nevada State Prison Inmate Case Files: Andriza Mircovich|url=http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1691&Itemid=95|publisher=Nevada State Library and Archives|access-date=November 8, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406062256/http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1691&Itemid=95|archive-date=April 6, 2010|url-status=dead}} After warden George W. Cowing was unable to find five men to form a firing squad,{{cite news|title=No One To Shoot Murderer|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1912/08/12/104903993.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 12, 1912|access-date=November 9, 2010}} a shooting machine was built to carry out Mircovich's execution. When the device arrived at the prison, Cowing no longer wanted to have any part of the execution and he resigned.{{cite journal|last=Cafferata|first=Patty|title=Capital Punishment Nevada Style|url=http://www.nvbar.org/Publications/NevadaLawyer/2010/June/capital.htm|journal=Nevada Lawyer|publisher=State Bar of Nevada|date=June 2010|access-date=November 8, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100718113236/http://www.nvbar.org/publications/NevadaLawyer/2010/June/capital.htm|archive-date=July 18, 2010|url-status=dead}} Former governor Denver S. Dickerson, who had worked to reform the state prison system, was appointed the new warden.{{cite web|url=http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=32612243a15a7010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD|title=Nevada Governor Denver Sylvester Dickerson|publisher=National Governors Association|access-date=November 3, 2010}}

File:NV Gov Denver Dickerson.jpg supervised the first executions by shooting and lethal gas at the prison.]]

In 1921, a bill authorizing the use of lethal gas had passed the Nevada State Legislature. Condemned murderer Gee Jon of the Hip Sing Tong criminal society became the first person to be executed by this method in the United States.{{cite book|last=Gerber|first=Rudolph Joseph|author2=Johnson, John M. |title=The Top Ten Death Penalty Myths: The Politics of Crime Control|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uUnAZxe0VCsC&dq=Gee+Jon+gas&pg=PA9|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|pages=9–10|year=2007|access-date=November 3, 2010|isbn=9780275997809}} Warden Dickerson sent his assistant Tom Pickett from Carson City to Los Angeles, California to personally pick up 20 pounds of lethal gas, which was contained in a mobile fumigating unit, at a cost of $700. Four guards did not want to participate in the process and resigned.{{cite book|last=Christianson|first=Scott|title=Fatal Airs: The Deadly History and Apocalyptic Future of Lethal Gases That Threaten Our World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sH7DBd8XLMcC&dq=Gee+Jon&pg=PA49|publisher=ABC-CLIO|pages=49–51|year=2010|access-date=November 3, 2010|isbn=9780313385520}} Prison officials first attempted to pump poison gas directly into Gee's cell while he was sleeping, but without success because the gas leaked from the cell.{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/descriptions-execution-methods#gas|title=Descriptions of Execution Methods: Gas Chamber|publisher=Death Penalty Information Center|year=2010|access-date=November 3, 2010}} A makeshift gas chamber was set up at the butcher shop of the prison.{{cite book|last=Bryant|first=Clifton D.|author-link= Clifton D. Bryant |title=Handbook of Death and Dying|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3z9EpgisKOgC&dq=Gee+Jon&pg=PA362|publisher=SAGE Publications|pages=362–363|year=2003|access-date=November 3, 2010|isbn=9780761925149}} Gee was strapped onto a chair in the chamber which was eleven feet long, ten feet wide, and eight feet high.{{cite book|last=Reid|first=John Bevis|author2=James, Ronald Michael |title=Uncovering Nevada's Past: A Primary Source History of the Silver State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5sTpQB3QsQsC&dq=Gee+Jon&pg=PA108|publisher=University of Nevada Press|page=108|year=2004|access-date=November 3, 2010|isbn=9780874175677}} A small window next to the wooden chair allowed witnesses to look inside. Attendees included news reporters, public health officials and representatives of the U.S. Army. On the morning of February 8, 1924, the pump sprayed four pounds of hydrocyanic acid into the chamber. Because an electric heater failed, the chamber was 52 degrees fahrenheit instead of the ideal 75 degrees, causing some of the acid to form a puddle on the floor. Gee's head appeared to nod up and down for six minutes before he succumbed to the gas. The prison staff waited three hours for the remaining puddle of hydrocyanic acid to evaporate before cleaning up the chamber.{{cite book|last=Banner|first=Stuart|title=The Death Penalty|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FzayhpsWJ5oC&dq=Gee+Jon&pg=PA198|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=198|year=2002|access-date=November 3, 2010|isbn=9780674020511}} Warden Dickerson reported to Nevada governor James G. Scrugham and the legislature his opinion that the use of lethal gas was impractical and that he thought execution by firing squad was still the best method of execution. Expenditures for Gee's execution totaled about $1,000, but the operating cost of the gas chamber plummeted to about 90 cents per use by 1937.{{cite news|title=Gas Execution Cost 90 Cents|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HbkzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1e4HAAAAIBAJ&pg=4661,5717162&dq=gas+execution+cost|newspaper=Lodi News-Sentinel|agency=United Press International|page=6|date=August 27, 1937|access-date=November 12, 2010}} Dickerson remained warden of Nevada State Prison until his death on November 28, 1925.

On October 22, 1979, convicted murderer Jesse Bishop became the first person to be executed at the prison after the state legislature reinstated the death penalty, following the lifting of a national moratorium on capital punishment. Bishop is also the last prisoner to be executed by lethal gas by the state.{{cite book|last=Rocha|first=Guy|title=The death penalty: Nevada|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1998/Feb-08-Sun-1998/news/6919287.html|newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal|date=February 8, 1998|access-date=November 3, 2010}} On December 6, 1985, serial killer Carroll Cole became the first inmate to be executed in Nevada by lethal injection.{{cite web |last=Rocha |first=Guy Louis |url=http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=960&Itemid=418 |title=An Outline of Capital Punishment in Nevada (418) |publisher=Nevada State Library and Archives |year=2010 |access-date=November 3, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906051053/http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=960&Itemid=418 |archive-date=September 6, 2012 |url-status=dead }} Executions continue to be carried out in the gas chamber, but on a gurney designed for lethal injection.

In 2012 the department was considering a capital improvement program that would relocate the execution chamber from Nevada State Prison to Ely State Prison."[http://doc.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/docnvgov/content/Home/Prison_Commissioners/Minutes_BoPC20121015.pdf MINUTES Of the meeting of the BOARD OF PRISON COMMISSIONERS MEETING October 15, 2012]." Nevada Department of Corrections. Retrieved on September 19, 2015. "The capital improvement program (CIP) to move the execution chamber to Ely State Prison is expected to take approximately 12 - 14 months and the CIP to move the tag plant to Northern Nevada Correctional Center is approximately 16 – 18 months." The current execution chamber at Ely opened in 2016.{{cite news |author=Whaley, Sean |url= https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/nevadas-new-860000-execution-chamber-is-finished-but-gathering-dust |title= Nevada's new $860,000 execution chamber is finished but gathering dust |newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal |date= 2016-11-27 |access-date= 2017-04-23}}

Image:1933 Nevada private carrier plate.jpg in Nevada had been made at the prison since 1928.]]

Nevada State Prison employed and provided vocational training for inmates in its factories, which produced mattresses and license plates. The prison manufactured all Nevada vehicle registration plates since 1928. The prison industries also included a bookbindery and print shop. Minimum security inmates were eligible for forklift training.

Inmates were offered the opportunity to earn a GED or take collegiate courses through Western Nevada College.

After the closure of Nevada State Prison, the license plate factory was relocated to Northern Nevada Correctional Center.

In 2009, the Nevada state legislature rejected a proposal by Governor Jim Gibbons to close the prison amid a budget crisis, and instead approved the continued operation of the prison while plans to expand or construct other new prisons were delayed. In February 2010, Nevada Department of Corrections Director Howard Skolnik notified employees that the prison system faced an $880 million deficit. Prison officials recommended moving the inmates to other facilities in the state prison system and converting the site into a tourist attraction or training center.{{cite news |url= http://www.correctionalnews.com/articles/2010/11/2/nevada-doc-recommends-state-prison-closure |title= Nevada DOC Recommends State Prison Closure |publisher= Correctional News |date=November 2, 2010 |access-date= November 4, 2010}} The prison closed in May 2012.

{{Portal|Nevada}}

• List of Nevada state prisons
• Nevada Department of Corrections

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• [http://www.nevadastateprison.org Nevada State Prison Preservation Society]
• [http://www.doc.nv.gov/nsp/ Nevada State Prison] at the Nevada Department of Corrections (Official site)
• [http://www.doc.nv.gov/nsp_plan.pdf Nevada State Prison Closure Plan Overview] – Nevada Department of Corrections (July 2, 2010)

{{State prisons in Nevada}}

{{Execution sites in the United States}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1862 establishments in Nevada Territory

Category:2012 disestablishments in Nevada

Category:Capital punishment in Nevada

Category:Prisons in Nevada

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Carson City, Nevada