Old Idaho Penitentiary

This former prison on the eastern edge of Boise operated from 1872 until 1973 and is now a historic site open for tours. Built of sandstone quarried by the inmates themselves, its cell houses, solitary confinement block, and gallows survive, interpreting more than a century of Idaho penal history and the lives of the men and women held there. The grounds sit against the Boise foothills and include a rose garden and a small arms museum. Occasional evening and history events explore the site's more infamous residents.