Burlington County Prison

In 1811 Burlington County had built their first prison. The cost of building the prison was over $24,000, they went over the budget 2.5 times. It was a stone structure made to house only 40 inmates. The huge door in the front dates back to 1811, so do the locks. Nothing has been changed on the building since it was closed in 1965. Inside the building, it was poured with concrete walls, stones and bricks. The only thing that was done to the building was the walls were repainted to match the white they had in 1811 when it first opened. During the time of the prison being opened, the prison was overcrowded. The approximately amount that the prison was made for was 40. At times they had 100 inmates in the prison. Cells that were made for 4 people had 8 inmates in it at a time. They had to move to an armory to house the inmates because they were getting to many inmates. That’s when they decided, they would have to build another prison but bigger. In November of 1965 they closed down the prison. During the times of the prison being opened they held their own execution. If an inmate was convicted and was ordered to be put to death, they would hang them in the back yard of the prison. To this day they still have the gallows and everything else their, as part of the museum. The Burlington County prison was not just filled of inmate but have said theirs paranormal activity going on. They say it’s the man of Joel Clough, who stabbed his girlfriend to death. He convicted of murder and was sentenced to death by the judge but during his stay at the prison, he escaped. Later he was recaptured and spent his last days on death row in the dungeons. He was hanged in 1833, when shortly after guards started hearing moaning coming from his empty cell. They also said they saw things levitating from inside the cell. A creeper thing was that, when workers