The Lee’s are always looking for an adventure and when my Brother-in-Law Willis asked William if he would like to take a tour of the Missouri State Prison there was no hesitation in the answer.  You see, Willis worked there 22 years before retiring.  The prison received its first inmate in 1836 and closed its doors in 2004.

The prison is commonly called The Bloodiest 47 Acres in America because of all the deaths at the prison back in the 30’s.  This prison is 100 years older than Alcatraz, home of the gas chamber, and housed two infamous inmates.

Sonny Liston learned to box at MSP and went on to become Heavyweight Champion

James Earl Ray escaped from MSP before assassinating Martin Luther King, Jr.  Willis tells the tale that James Earl Ray didn’t escape but that he was escorted out in the middle of the night.  Not sure if that is true but that was the buzz between the prison guards.

Housing the gas chamber, Forty inmates were put to death in the gas chamber between 1937-1989.  Bonnie Heady only woman to be executed in the gas chamber in a double execution alongside Carl Hall for the Greenlease killing.

Here are pics of the camber and where they spent their last night.

And this guy, well he was guilty of never wanting to grow up.  He was well-loved and always entertained by his family.

As for us Sisters, we elected to stay home and relax while the boys went out to play.