Here is a shot I took today of the former Portsmouth Naval Prison in New Hampshire (1905-1974). Maximum occupancy reached 3,088 in 1945.
it was known as the "Alcatraz of the East"
Big Nickel wrote:
Here is a shot I took today of the former Portsmouth Naval Prison in New Hampshire (1905-1974). Maximum occupancy reached 3,088 in 1945.
Nice photo. I didn't know such a place existed. It's a shame they can't fix some of these old prisons up and shove some of the criminals in there instead of turning them loose for lack of room. It would be a lot cheaper than building new ones. If the world keeps on like it's going, there will be one on every street corner.
Great shot....didn't know it existed......thanx for sharing it.
Very nice shot. Thank you for sharing.
HEY! A little paint here, some new windows, landscaping and a new Trump Hotel....
Is it accessible? What great shots must be lurking inside!
When my husband was stationed at Pease AFB, we'd go boating past the prison and see hands waving out the windows. And, of course, we waved back. That's a great picture of a building with lots of history.
coondog wrote:
Is it accessible? What great shots must be lurking inside!
I don't know if you can get inside, I was accross the water from it. I bet in the 20's 30's & 40's there were many ways to get in there...but not many ways to get out!
It's a shame, this building has been vacant for over 40 years. I've always thought it could be turned into a huge resort hotel, but I'm sure that the government wouldn't allow that. In my stack of negatives, I've got arial shots of that as well as the whole Portsmouth area.
There is an old prison on the water at Kentucky Lake that is still in use by the state of Kentucky, that is a beautiful old building. It has a great deal of photo appeal as well - wish I had a picture of it. I have lots of Alcatraz photos on my old crashed computer that will be a recovery project one of these days.
Big Nickel wrote:
Here is a shot I took today of the former Portsmouth Naval Prison in New Hampshire (1905-1974). Maximum occupancy reached 3,088 in 1945.
Beauiful shot. The building looks like some of the royal homes in England. Seems a pity only used 69 years. Should be retored and upgraded to apartments or something. Thanks
MWAC
Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy
I would love to know if you could gain access to the yard or even the inside. I would in no way condone breaking in as getting arrested for tresspassing on federal grounds would most likely get you in some real hot water and who wants to be the person who goes to jail for breaking into a prison?
You are so right. Oklahoma County Jail was built back about 1985 and it is in such bad shape that they need to build a new one. What if every building only lasted 20-30 yrs. I think someone besides the tax payers should have to pay for the re-do. Contractors, designers, engineers, ect. I'm thru whining.
Horseart wrote:
Big Nickel wrote:
Here is a shot I took today of the former Portsmouth Naval Prison in New Hampshire (1905-1974). Maximum occupancy reached 3,088 in 1945.
Nice photo. I didn't know such a place existed. It's a shame they can't fix some of these old prisons up and shove some of the criminals in there instead of turning them loose for lack of room. It would be a lot cheaper than building new ones. If the world keeps on like it's going, there will be one on every street corner.
Here is another photo of "The Castle". I was stationed there in 1957-1958 and was in charge of the prisoner personnel office which was on the left side of the prison. The center was the cell block and the right side was prisoner squad bays. The building in the fron is the Marine Barracks where all the Marine personnel stayed who ran the prison.
The last time I was there was the last open house of the Portsmouth Naval base where the prison is located. Yoou cannot visit it anymore because of 9-11. The building has fallen in such dis-repair that you cannot go inside. When I was there you could walk up and look inside on the bottom floor. It was going to be make into an office building but the person who was going to buy it died, so now I guess it will stay abandon.
During WW-2 it housed German U-boat prisoners and the U-boats were brought into the Naval Base.
Just thought you would like a little history of the place.
US Naval Prison, Portsmouth, NH
Semper Fi, I was a Jarhead in the early sixties, I heard about how tough you guys were and never wanted to find out on my own. I did visit the castle once, the Navy thought that my brother in law belonged in the castle, but on the other side of the bars from you.
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