anamosa state penetentiary museum

The museum has interesting exhibits and information regarding its history and the inmates, some of which were famous (infamous).

I had been wanting to visit this museum for some time and finally went out of my way to do so and am glad I did!It is located in the former prison cheese factory and while small as museums go,the exhibits are very interesting and displayed well.It even has a gift shop and I'm sure you'll find some items worth purchasing;I know I did.The museum is operated by volunteers and is not open year round so it is best to check the website for their hours. www.asphistory.com/museum Feel free to take photos of the prison entrance too as it is an architectural marvel.

The picture I posted is actually the front of the prison, which is where we entered by mistake. Pass the prison to the top of the hill and take a left to get to the museum, which is in the old cheese house. $3/adult admissionThe volunteers at the museum were so friendly and easy to talk with. The museum is small but full of interesting tidbits. I learned that there is a miniature golf course inside the prison. ! Some fun items in gift shop.We combined this with a visit to the Motorcycle Museum and lunch at the General Store Pub in Stone City just down the road, as well as a drive through Wapsipinicon State Park. Nice day!

This was an unexpected side trip for our family and it was well worth it! The museum staff show the guests a short video on the history of the penetentiary prior to looking through the two room museum that is full of memoribilia. You even get to go inside an example of the jail cell that an inmate would have...it's very tiny. The penetentiary itself is really quite pretty, and that is directly next to this small museum. If you are looking for a short, historical side trip while in the general area, I'd highly recommend it!

I took a group of ladies on a mystery trip to the museum. They said it was the best part of the trip.