First State Prison

This was the original site of Michigan’s first state prison, approved by the legislature in 1838. A temporary wooden prison, enclosed by a fence of tamarack poles, was built on sixty acres donated for that purpose here. In 1839 the first thirty-five prisoners were received. A permanent prison was built three years later. Beginning in the 1880s under Warden H. F. Hatch a greater emphasis was placed on the education and rehabilitation of prisoners. After 1934 the inmates were housed in the new prison north of Jackson.

Plaque via Michigan History Center