I recently came across these and other shots of Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex I took sometime in 1973. "Brushy" shut down for about 4 years in 1972 and the local paper I worked for sent me on a photo shoot of the deserted prison. I was really impressed by the lonely cramped cells, with pictures taped to their walls, and thought about the men and stories that passed over this barber's chair.
As I walked the bases of the baseball
diamond, which had a shear bluff for a 
backstop for home plate, contemplating the history and silence of the place, Geronimo, a deer brought to the prison by one of the guards and kept as a pet by the inmates, walked up behind me and nudged my arm innocently. Thinking I was all alone in the deserted facility, I was so startled I almost fainted from fright. He had no fear of me. He was used to lots of attention and was starved for a little companionship and a treat. 
The cell blocks consisted of 4 caged tiers, the cells contained 4 steel bunks, one toilet, and all the walkways were caged.
Since I could find only brief mentions of Geronimo in long since shut down servers, I thought I would post these shots as proof he lived and spent his life bringing some enjoyment to the inmates of "Brushy".
Maybe someone who was there will see this post and verify and possibly provide more details.
Incidentally, this is where James Earl Ray began is prison experience, and once escaped from for a day or two!
9 comments:
You're sure that's a barber's chair, right?
I was wondering the same thing?
What a sweet deer? (you too Mushy).
Eerie place, nice to know a little humanity existed there..
ps. you've been tagged, see Ron's place (heheheh).
Ron? Ron don't play that!
I wonder if it was better or worse to have the bunk right next to the toilet? My first thought would be worse, but then if you needed it real bad and didn't want to disturb your "roomies"...
Eew, Sully, now I've got the image of some guy turnin' over in bed and havin' some other guy brippin' a load just inches away. Nasty. Probably only one of many things that suck about being in jail. And from those horns I'm thinkin Geronimo was a spike, nutted at a young age. Poor little thing. Wonder what happened to it? Was it shut up inside the place or could it roam into the woods?
Have no idea what happened...can't find much on him. What I've written is great part of his history.
I posted in Wikipedia too!
All I know for sure is that he was there...got the proof.
Did they ever re-open it? Or did they just put it "in-limbo", like the Old Joliet, Illinois pen? Lotta history inside of that one, too...
No, it reopened in 75 or 76 and is open today!
Incidentally, this is where James Earl Ray started his career!
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