SOUTHERN PENITENTIARY
Located near Chester, on the Mississippi River. Its erection was rendered necessary by the overcrowding of the Northern Penitentiary.
The law providing for its establishment required the Commissioners to select a site convenient of access, adjacent to stone and timber, and having a high elevation, with a never failing supply of water.
In 1877, 122 acres were purchased at Chester and the erection of buildings commenced. The first appropriation was of $200,000 and $300,000 was added in 1879. By March 1878, 200 convicts were received and their labor was utilized in the completion of the buildings, which are constructed upon approved modern principles.
The prison receives convicts sent from the southern portion of the state, and has accommodation for some 1,200 prisoners.
In connection with this penitentiary is an asylum for insane convicts, the erection of which was provided for by the Legislature in 1889.