Clinton Correctional Facility

About

Built in 1844, it originally served as a site where prisoners were used to work in local mines in both Dannemora and nearby Lyon Mountain. This enterprise would not be profitable, and by 1877, mining had ended, and the prisoners were put to work on other trades. With this change, the prison experienced growth, and in 1887 it was given new concrete walls more than 60 feet (18 m) tall that still stand. In 1892, the first prisoner was executed in the electric chair at the prison, beginning the use of capital punishment at Clinton Correctional. Twenty six men were executed between 1892 and 1913. This period also saw many prisoners cured of tuberculosis due in part to the clean air in the Adirondacks, leading to the importation of prisoners with this disease from other prisons.