16. Tennessee State Prison, Tennessee

Location: Tennessee's Nashville
1831 is the year.
Building cost: $17.934 million
The building that was once this penal prison dates back to the 1800s. Even after accounting for inflation, the Tennessee State Prison's construction cost exceeded $17 million, and problems plagued the now-closed prison from the beginning. It was renowned for its stringent rules and contained two hundred cells.


@roadtrippers/Pinterest: Tennessee State Prison, Tennessee
With the exception of emergencies, the prisoners were unable to communicate with friends and family or with each other. Men and women were confined together at the state prison for a very long time. The population of the military jail increased and the conditions of the inmates deteriorated after the Union Army assumed control of it in 1863. Tennessee State Prison eventually shuttered its doors in 1992, following years of forced labor, extreme overcrowding, and cruel conditions.
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