Yuma Territorial Prison Analysis

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The appliances of the Yuma Territorial Prison were more modern than most of the homes in Yuma, the prison had electricity, plumbing, ventilation, and other modern amenities (“Interesting stories - Yuma territorial prison museum & park - historic Yuma AZ,” n.d.). The Territorial Prison was built next to the Colorado river, and the builders of the prison were the prisoners themselves. The prison was built in 1875, and by July 1st, 1876 the first seven inmates were locked in the cells that they had built. The prison was originally planned to be built in Phoenix, but Jose Maria Redondo and R.B. Kelly, Yuma County legislators, thought that the prison would boost Yuma’s economy. When the prison project was finally approved they crossed out Phoenix and put Yuma in its place. (Kofa High School, 2013) The prison had 3,069 prisoners, and out of those 3,069 prisoners only 29 of them were female. By 1909, thirty-three years after the prison officially opened the prison closed due to overcrowding (“Yuma territorial prison museum & park - historic Yuma AZ,” n.d.). The Yuma Territorial Prison is significant to Yuma because it helped …show more content…
In 2007 the Yuma Territorial Prison alone brought 58,694 visitors to Yuma. Just in one year the prison was able to bring nearly sixty-thousand people! This is important because the more visitors the prison receives the more money that is going into the economy, each person has to pay entry fees for the park. Each adult costs six dollars and three dollars for children age seven to age thirteen, even if all the visitors were children the prison still brought in 170,082 dollars just in the entry fee. Furthermore those visitors more often than not pay for more than just an entry fee, they also pay for gas, food, souvenirs, and they also pay for a place to stay now and again. Then from 2006 to 2007