Old Idaho Penitentiary

The Old Idaho Penitentiary operated from 1872 to 1973, housing more than 13,000 prisoners over its history and seeing escapes and scandals across Boise's transformation from frontier outpost to state capital. Now one of only four territorial prisons in the country open to the public, it operates today as a museum with cell blocks, solitary confinement, and the original gallows open for tours. Visitors and staff report strong feelings of unease and unexplained presences throughout the grounds, along with flickering lights in windowless rooms where no light source could account for them.