Place to see: Wyoming Frontier Prison, Rawlins, Wyoming, United States

About this place:

The old Wyoming State Penitentiary was in operation from 1901-1981. Keeping with the tradition of the Wild West, hot water was not available in the cells until 1978. Nicknamed, "Old Pen," the prison served as the location for the the filming of the movie "Prison" in 1987. Today, Old Pen is open to the public as the Wyoming Frontier Prison Musem and is the only prison in the United States where you can legally have your picture taken in the gas chamber.

The prison is an anomaly in and of itself as the inmates housed during the prison's operational period where allowed to paint their cells in bright colors. Blue, turquoise, green, and yellow candy coated cages line the cellblocks, eeirly bright and cheerful. White dollops of old crusted toothpaste stand out against plastic pop colored walls where inmates glued pictures and clippings, giving each cell a disturbingly confectionary finish reminiscent of holiday cookies.