


Snyder was a prosperous Kansas City businessman who bought the 5,000-acre Ha Ha Tonka Lake and spring in Camden County in 1904. The park is about 3,700 acres in size, with over 15 miles of hiking trails leading to caverns, natural bridges, and breathtaking landscapes. The term “ha ha tonka” derives from the Native Americans who lived in the region and means “laughing waters,” referring to the springs. On the Niangua arm of the Lake of the Ozarks, Ha Ha Tonka State Park is a wonderful public leisure area. Given it’s brutal history, MSP is considered one of the most haunted abandoned places in Missouri.ģ7.97607, -92.76979 Photo Credit: Granger Meador – Photographs are permitted, but videotaping is not. The control center, upper yard, cellblocks in housing unit A (the oldest remaining cell block built in 1868) and other housing units, the dungeon cells, the industry area, the exercise yard, and the gas chamber where a total of 40 inmates (men and women) were executed may all be seen during your visit.ĭue to the nature of the subject matter, no children under the age of ten are admitted. On October 14, 2004, the Missouri State Penitentiary was closed and the new Jefferson City Correctional Center was established. It was renamed back to Missouri State Penitentiary in 2003 so that the old prison and the new one that was being built would not be confused. The Missouri State Penitentiary became the Jefferson City Correctional Center in 1991. The Missouri State Penitentiary is almost 175 years old and is reputed to be filled with spirits due to its lengthy, dark, and terrible history. It was Missouri’s premier maximum security jail, and it was labeled the “bloodiest 47 acres in America” by Time Magazine in 1967. It was the west of the Mississippi River’s oldest continuously running prison.

The Missouri State Penitentiary (MSP) was first opened on the banks of the Missouri River in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1836. The Missouri State Penitentiaryģ8.57369, -92.16183 Photo Cred: Steve Mays – Check It Out Abandoned Places In Missouri 1.
