SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — In the early 1880s, multiple state institutions were divided throughout the Dakota Territory. Those institutions included the university, other schools and the state penitentiary. At the time, Yankton and Vermillion were at the center of political power in the territory.
“R.F. Pettigrew becomes our representative from Sioux Falls to go to the territorial legislature and he’s looking for one of those pieces to come to Sioux Falls,” said Kevin Gansz, curator of education for the Siouxland Heritage Museums. “And he knew he had no chance of getting the university. A lot of people sometimes think that we had this option between getting the university and the penitentiary, and we decided to take the penitentiary instead.”
Prior to the prison’s construction, inmates were convicted in the Dakota Territory and sent out of state for their sentence.
“The reason for building the penitentiary is they didn’t want to have to pay another state to take care of them when they can keep the money local, or at least in the state,” said Bob Kolbe, a member of the Minnehaha County Historical Society.
Like any correctional facility, the state penitentiary has seen its fair share of riots and escapes. One of the more notable riots ended in the warden at the time, Eugene Reiley, being killed. His pistol is housed at the Old Courthouse Museum.
“If you get somebody who decides they don’t like what’s going on, they can create problems,” said Kolbe.
For decades, the prison was nearly self-sufficient, with multiple industries housed within prison walls or nearby. A 700-acre farm with cows, hogs and turkeys helped supply work and food to the inmates. Around 1900, a shirt factory was opened in the prison.
“They were producing shirts and some of the reports show that they had about 90 men working in the shirt factory, and they could produce 100 dozen shirts a day. Also, shortly after this time, there was a twine factory that operated out of the prison,” said Gansz.
According to the South Dakota Department of Corrections 2024 statistical report, housing an inmate for a year costs over $33,000, a stark difference compared to the early 20th century.
“With the prison being as self-sufficient as it was, it kept the cost of housing an inmate down. For instance, in 1913, they state that to house an inmate for a year, it costs the state $291.14,” said Gansz.
Although those industries were successful for a while, the ethics of the state making money off of inmate labor became an issue- one of the many times that the philosophy of work versus rehabilitation was brought up.
“It was lock them up and throw the key away in one sense,” said Kolbe. “Now we try to do some rehabilitation. And how much rehabilitation, and how much education? Do you make an industrial sense of rehabilitation or do you do an academic sense of rehabilitation?”
