missouri state penitentiary

I live in the area and have been through the MSP a couple of times. It is definately time well spent and is worth the money that you will spend. I would recommend to anyone, young and old.

My family and I did a tour here. We really enjoyed the history. It's good for a family visit or for a ghost tour. I learned quite a bit and the tour lasted long enough to make it count! It's a neat piece of history. I believe one of the Ghost shows even did a special here. Kinda cool!

You get to tour several of the building on a walking tour with a guide. My guess is no two tous would be the same. We were on the ghost tour at night. Fun! You visit the gas chamber

I have taken the historical and the history tours. They were both excellent! The guides don't have scripts and most are past guards so the stories are there own.

I went spring of 2014 ,I'm a 50 yr old woman interisted in history , old buildings and GHOSTS !! No ghosts on this tour but the history of this place is incredible !! And the tour guide was very very interisting man ( used to be a guard there ) such cool first hand stories that you won't get when he's not there anymore ... If I lived closer I would have loved to buy him a drink and listen to his stories ...

The Penitentiary had stopped doing the overnight ghost hunting trips when we last visited because of black mold, so we were only able to take a limited walking tour of certain areas. The tour was led by a couple of very knowledgable volunteer docents who answered all our question with patience and interest. There are a few outdoor restrooms about and there is a small gift shop which sell ice cold water when you go inside the main part of the tour. There are however, very FEW places to sit which can be hard on the older folks. We bought our tickets online and they ran about $20 each...we traveled from the big prison (what was open to the public) to the gas chamber which we reached by driving our own cars. There were people in the tour who had worked at the prison when it was still open and people who had played there as children when they brought in to play exhibition baseball games for the inmates. I would very much like to do it again, but not when the weather is so hot. An interesting but very sad part of Missouri history.

We took a family trip to Jeff City to do the Ghost Tour at the MO State Penitentiary in late November to celebrate my birthday (sounds a little weird when I actually type that out). Our tour was with about 20 other people, which at first I was worried that many people would take away from the experience, but it didn't at all. Our tour guide was amazing (too bad I don't remember his name). He was full of awesome historical knowledge along with interesting "ghost stories" from previous tours. Our tour group didn't experience any ghostly encounters, but we didn't feel at all short changed-the tour itself was so great. The tour actually was closer to 2.5 hrs but he asked everyone before he went over the 2 hr mark to make sure it was ok that we went over. We visited different buildings on the prison grounds. He gave us information about the building, who was housed in it, what happened in it, etc. Then he gave us about 15 minutes or so at each place to explore on our own. It was a perfect combo of information and exploring time.There were Port-A-Potties there in a few locations (they were clean with hand sanitizer in each of them). They had a souvenir table but it seemed kind of pricey-I know they have to make some money, but the experience and our pictures were enough for us. They weren't pushy with it at all, just simply let us know it was there. Be prepared to walk up and down stairs-not a ton, but they are there and unavoidable. I can't say enough how much we all enjoyed it. The hubby wants to go back for the Ghost Hunt and my parents just want to go back and do the tour again.

We visited the Penitentiary in early November. Since there is no A/C this is a good time for a tour. There is a fair amount of walking so wear comfortable shoes. We took the three-hour tour. Our guide was a retired guard. He was very interesting and did a great job helping us to understand what it must have been like to serve time. He was able to share personal experiences and put them into historic perspective. The tour ends with a visit to the old gas chamber.

We took a tour in November. We had about 35 people and some children in the group. We first listened to about 20 minutes of history from a former prison gaurd. He was very funny, informative, and insightful. He walked us through three major areas, Cell Block A, the court yard, and I believe it was Cell Block C. We were able to explore the buildings, see what they used to look like, and how different they are today as well. Exploring was very enlightening. To see how they lived, what they faced, and how the prisoners survived/did not. We took a brief tour of the higher security portion, and discussed how people ended up there. The guide showed us how tools could be made litterally from anything and how the guards would find some of them. Interesting notes about how the guards and prisoners kept riots to a minimum through very little regulations. Well worth a tour!

Stayed in Jefferson City on my way back from a business trip on the off chance there would be a photography tour on the day I was there. Unfortunately the next photography tour was another week away. Still drove to the penitentiary to get some photos of the outside, and the building is just incredible. The architecture is fantastic. When standing outside the front and you look up, you get a feeling of vertigo. Was almost a teaser standing outside and trying to imagine what the interior is like. I will be back, that is for sure.

The tour was a bit long - not meant for people with knee and ankle issues. Large number of people on the tour. Interesting information shared. Not a haunted tour.

Enjoyed the tour, the guide Ray was knowledgeable and a good sense of humor. This buildings are still a work in progress, so ideally they'll open up more areas in the future.

We went to 9:00 PM "Ghost Hunting Tour". We were expecting a real tour as we had a few haunted places .No, we were wrong there were three "tour guides" and really big group of around 35 people. They separated the group three smaller groups We were left in on of prison buildings and told to discover the building by our self while our tour guide was playing with his cell phone. After an hour, our tour guide took us another building while other group came in. Our tour guides full attention was on a few pretty girls in the group.So three boring hours and three almost empty building ,last stop was gas chamber ,which was highlight of the the trip.I do not recommend anyone .BTW ,THey do not provide any ghost haunting equipment as advertised on website.

We went to the 6:00pm tour on Halloween. There was a fairly good group of us. Learned a great deal about the penitentiary. I knew it was built in 1836 but did not know they followed the Auburn System (an offshoot of the Pennsylvania System). The tour guides were excellent. Being in the solitary confinement cells was moving. I can't imagine being in the dark with five other people - not knowing who is where, where the food is, where the "pot" is. Two pots - one for water; the other for excrement - it was quite an experience!! Well worth the $12!!

Very Interesting piece of history. We took the 2 hour tour on Sunday. Lt. Green was our tour guide and he had some very interesting stories and past experiences at this prison. We toured cells, the dungeon (disciplinary segregation), the grounds and the execution building (gas chamber). Next time we go back we will take the 3 hour tour. The cost of this tour was very reasonable. I could not imagine working in this environment even though I work in a minimum security prison out of state. I suggest you purchase the book to learn more details on this major piece of Missouri history.