1908 LETTERHEAD STILLWATER MINNESOTA, MINNESOTA STATE PRISON, WARDEN WOLFER

Description

1908 LETTERHEAD  STILLWATER MINNESOTA, MINNESOTA STATE PRISON STILLWATER . ORIGINAL.
WRITTEN FROM FAMOUS WARDEN HENRY WOLFER (SEE BELOW)
ORIGINAL TERRITORIAL PRISON
WRITTEN TO CLARA CITY MERCANTILE, CLARA CITY MINNESOTA
The Minnesota Territorial Prison, later the Minnesota State Prison, was a prison in Stillwater, Minnesota, United States, in operation from 1853 to 1914. Construction of the prison began in 1851, shortly after Minnesota became a territory. The prison was replaced by the Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater in nearby Bayport. Most of the original prison's structures were demolished in 1936, leaving only the 1853 Warden's House and a manual labor complex that had been constructed 1884–1898. The surviving factory buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for having state-level significance in the themes of industry and social history. The historic site, long since unused, was destroyed by arson on September 3, 2002. It was formally delisted from the National Register in 2005.
In 1890, in an attempt to reduce political favoritism in the contract labor system, the prison began its own manufacturing program. Twine was the initial product. The following years saw Minnesota's first appointment of professional penologists as wardens. This led to reforms such as a convict grading system and a school for prison education.
Warden Henry Wolfer also decried the conditions of the old prison, which by then was overcrowded, damp, poorly ventilated, and infested with cockroaches and bedbugs. He succeeded in getting the Minnesota Legislature to authorize funds for a new facility as the first decade of the 20th century drew to a close.
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ORIGINAL, LETTERHEADS, BILLHEAD, BILLHEADS, HARDWARE.