History

by cherylca — last modified Dec 02, 2014 09:24 AM

History (LCF)
1859	Kansas Legislature passed authorized the construction of the Kansas State Penitentiary (KCP)
1861	On November 18, a tract of 40 acres on Seven Mile Creek was purchased for $600 from Almira Budlong.
1862	John P. Mitchell served as KSP's first warden.
1863	Three directors, William Dunlap, John Wilson and S.S. Ludlum, were appointed to oversee KSP. After touring several prisons in eastern states, the group decided to model the KSP after a prison in Joliet, Illinois.
1864	Construction, accomplished using prison labor, began on the north wing near the site of what was known as the Oklahoma Jail.
1867	Following several delays due to the Civil War, the main building was completed.
1868	With the completion of the north wing, KSP began accepting prisoners in July.
1872	The dining hall was completed.
1875	A guard force of 26 men watched over 379 prisoners including 30 federal inmates. The prison also housed inmates from Oklahoma until 1909.
	Prisoners were governed by what was known as the "silent system," meaning no inmates were allowed to converse with one another under any circumstances.
1881	A need to keep inmates occupied caused the state to sink a coal shaft that would supply KSP and all other state institutions. The need to transport the coal brought in the railroads and soon the area around the prison became a railway crossroads. Houses and businesses were erected giving way for the area to be called the Town of Progress. The prison also began to manufacture twine. The coal mine and twine operations closed in 1947 due to high operating costs and low demand.
1885	Inmates began work on the prison farm. Aside from raising crops, inmates also oversaw a dairy herd and poultry and hog farm. By 1961, the prison farm covered 2,000 acres. By 1975, farm operations were discontinued but later resumed on a reduced basis.
1896	KSP temporarily stopped admitting prisoners due to widespread alarm over the spread of small pox in Kansas.
1911	KSP opened a "tinker shop" where visitors could purchase craft items including furniture made by inmates. The shop also housed a broom manufacturing operation.
1917	The Kansas Correctional Institute - Lansing for Women (KCIL) was established as a satellite unit of KSP. The name would become the Kansas Correctional Institute at Lansing in 1983.
1985	A medium-security unit was constructed adjacent to the original wall of the maximum-security compound. This complex is now designated as the Central Unit.
1987	The Osawatomie Correctional Facility was established in September as an 80-bed minimum-security facility on the grounds of the Osawatomie State Hospital. This facility would become a a satellite unit of Lansing Correctional Facility in May of 1990.
1988	The minimum- and medium-custody female inmates were transferred from the Kansas Correctional Institute at Lansing to the Topeka Correctional Facility in Topeka. The maximum-custody female inmates would be transferred to Topeka in 1995. The former KCIL site is now designated as the East Unit and is a minimum-custody facility for male inmates.
1990	The administration of KSP and the Kansas Correctional Institute at Lansing were consolidated to form the Lansing Correctional Facility (LCF).
1991	LCF was awarded accreditation by the American Correctional Association.
1993	LCF became the oldest adult correctional facility to receive a perfect score in an American Correctional Association accreditation audit. LCF also duplicated its perfect score in a 1996 audit.
2009	LCF's satellite unit at Osawatomie was closed.

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