Competing with the likes of Detroit and Ann Arbor, Jackson won the battle to build Michigan s First State prison in 1838.
Author Judy Gail Krasnow s.
In contrast to Jacktown s beautiful Greco-Roman exterior, medieval punishments, a strict code of silence, no heat, no electricity and a lack of plumbing defined life on the inside.
During the era of the Big House and industrial growth, the penitentiary s on-site factories and cheap inmate labor helped Jackson become a thriving manufacturing city.
Competing with the likes of Detroit and Ann Arbor, Jackson won the battle to build Michigan s First State prison in 1838