Where does the Maine State Prison in 1907 fit into the history of the prison system in Maine?
The Maine State Government provides some excellent historical background on their website, located at http://www.maine.gov/corrections/Facilities/msp.htm. From that article, we learn that the State prison at Thomaston was established back in 1824 to handle maximum security prisoners, and, at the time of this report, it retained that role for both men and women. It was not until 1935 that women prisoners were moved to the Women’s Correctional Center in Skowhegan. The prison about which this report was written was built following a fire in 1854. In 1923 fire again claimed the Maine State Prison. The prison was rebuilt, several additional prison units dealing with special populations were built over the years, and in 2002 the last of the prisoners were moved from the prison in Thomaston to the new Maine State Prison in Warren. The structure at Thomaston was subsequently demolished with the exception of the Maine State Prison Showroom, which remains open. There seem to be many more persons
