Kingston Penitentiary Tour-Part 1, The public face.

Kingston Penitentiary aka KP is a fixture here in Kingston, Ontario.

Aerial View of KP, looking Northeast.

Built at a time where sailing ships plied the Great Lakes KP was strategically situated.  The entrance to the Rideau Canal, the Great Lakes and The St Lawrence River all combine to make Kingston a focal point of the times.  The ease of access combined with the ready local access to limestone made the choice an easy one. In fact, within 5 years of KP opening, Kingston became the first Capital of Canada before the fear of American invasion forced a move.

Fort Henry as seen from above.

At the End of September, 2013, KP was closed as a prison.  Tours were set up to benefit a local charity and tickets were quietly put on sale.  Then, word got out and the tickets became the hottest commodity.  I was lucky enough to get tickets for the first weekend of tours.

Not the nicest day, but the foreboding weather suited the nature of the visit.  KP looks like a giant fort, sharing a lot of design choices as Fort Henry, with an imposing outer wall, topped with razor wire and what looks like electric fencing.  Having toured Fort Henry multiple times, I was expecting the walls to contain rooms, not just be walls...

View to the South from the parking lot on the East side.
Lake Ontario is seen past the Guard tower.
This is the corner the last successful escape of KP occurred when
Ty Conn (no kidding) escaped in 1999

Electric Fencing?

Note how the corner Guard Towers have
sealed over gun ports.

Go to Kingston Pen Tour Part 2

All the tour images are available on Flickr.