Michigan State Prison

Michigan State Prison or Jackson State Prison, which opened in 1839, was the very first prison in Michigan. After 150 years, the prison was divided, starting in 1988, into four unique prisons, still in Jackson: the Parnall Correctional Facility which is a minimum-security jail; the G. Robert Cotton Correctional Facility where prisoners can complete their general education;  the Charles Egeler Reception and Guidance Center which is the common point of processing for all male state prisoners sentenced to any Michigan prison;  and the Cooper Street Correctional Facility which is the common point for processing of all male state prisoners about to release, parole, or get in a community center or the camp program. Jackson Michigan Information.

History

The first permanent structure was constructed in Jackson in 1842. In 1926, the prison was relocated to a new building, and quickly ended up being the biggest walled prison in the world with nearly 6,000 inmates. The prison was relabelled the State Prison of Southern Michigan in 1935. Beginning in 1988, the prison was carved up into numerous correctional facilities. The Southern Michigan Correctional Facility (JMF), which contained the heart of the 1926 jail structure, was lastly closed on November 17, 2007.  After JMF was closed, much of the prison remains open nevertheless, 7 Block, which used to be quarantine, has been closed and become a prison museum and is now open up to the public for trips. The original 1842 site was used as a Michigan National Guard armory for some time, and now houses residential apartment or condos along with a number of art galleries and a bicycle cooperative.