The front of the prison from flickr user kevinhooa
I just got back from visiting the Burlington County Prison Museum in Mount Holly, NJ. Nestled in the historic part of Mount Holly the old prison still stands and is now a museum that is open to the public. The prison opened in 1811 and was in operation until 1965. When you enter the building, you walk directly into the small gift shop and pay for your entrance fee ($4 for adults, $2 for children and students). The worker at the counter will then give you two brochures. One is the map of the prison, the tour is self guided. The second, is a brief history of the prison. Don’t make the mistake I did, read the history right then and there. I waited until after I left the museum, but it would have been much better for me to read the history before exploring. There are three floors in the prison and you can even walk through the tunnel to where the warden once lived. During its existence 13 men escaped from the prison, 6 prisoners where executed and 2 guards were murdered. Many think that the prison is haunted, I’ll let you be the judge of that. To me the coolest part of the prison was the graffiti on the cell walls. The prisoners played games, drew pictures and even kept calenders on the prison walls. Overall, the museum is worth the $4 dollars to enter and is worth a trip to Mount Holly to see it first hand.
