Kingston Penitentiary facts for kids
Kingston Penitentiary front entrance
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| Location | Kingston, Ontario |
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| Security class | Maximum security |
| Capacity | 564 |
| Opened | June 1, 1835 |
| Closed | September 30, 2013 |
| Managed by | Correctional Service Canada |
| Designated: | 1990 |
Kingston Penitentiary (known locally as KP and Kingston Pen) is a former maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, between King Street West and Lake Ontario.
History
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Constructed from 1833 to 1834, and opened on June 1, 1835 as the "Provincial Penitentiary of the Province of Upper Canada", it was one of the oldest prisons in continuous use in the world at the time of its closure. Kingston Penitentiary was one of nine prisons in the Kingston area which range from low-security facilities to the maximum-security facilities Kingston Penitentiary and Millhaven Institution (which was initially built to replace Kingston Pen).
The institution was built on land described as "lot number twenty, in the first concession of the Township of Kingston". The cells originally measured 73.7 cm (26 inches) wide by 244 cm (8 feet) deep and 200.7 cm (6 feet, 7 inches) high. The area had a 12 foot high wooden picket fence. In 1845, towers, stock walls and the north gate house were completed. In 1859 – 1861 a dome was added connecting four cellblocks.
The site was chosen for "combining the advantages of perfect salubrity, ready access to the water, and abundant quantities of fine limestone." Six inmates were accepted when the penitentiary was opened. English author Charles Dickens visited Kingston in 1842 and commented in his American Notes, "There is an admirable jail here, well and wisely governed, and excellently regulated, in every respect. The men were employed as shoemakers, ropemakers, blacksmiths, tailors, carpenters, and stonecutters; and in building a new prison, which was pretty far advanced towards completion. The female prisoners were occupied in needlework."
The penitentiary's western wall adjoins the Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, which hosted the sailing events for the 1976 Summer Olympics. Immediately across the road to the north is the now-closed Kingston Prison for Women (the property was bought by Queen's University in January 2008), which functioned from January 24, 1934 to May 8, 2000 to take female prisoners who had been housed in segregated quarters in the main facility.
Images for kids
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Guard house under main dome connecting the four cellblock buildings
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Aerial photo from 1919
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A full-scale model of a KP cell found in the Correctional Service of Canada Museum
