The Chicago Tribune recently reported that the Old Joliet Prison Historic Site in Joliet, Illinois, is reopening for tours. Starting this month, March, and running through October, visitors can choose from self-guided tours or group ones.
In 2020, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the prison found itself adapting to the new world of Covid-19 restrictions that any place open to the public had to navigate. When it reopened in June 2020, visitors weren’t allowed inside the prison, but a variety of tours were offered seven days a week, including a haunted history tour. Two dozen interpretive signs and historical photos of the prison were also added to the grounds.
Let’s check out what’s in store for the Old Joliet Prison’s reopening for the 2021 season.
The Old Joliet Prison’s Tours 2021
Self-Guided Prison Tours
Follow a designated path around the prison property. Visitors aren’t allowed inside but do have the opportunity to look through windows and signs explain how life was lived in the prison.
Tour duration: 90 minutes.
Ticket prices: $20 for the general public; $15 for museum members or residents of Joliet; $10 for children ages 3-12, children under 3 are free.
Historical Tours
This is the tour to take if you want the prison’s history from its opening in 1858 to its life as a museum now. On this tour, you do get to go into “a select few buildings.”
Tour duration: 90 minutes.
Ticket prices: $30 for the general public; $25 for museum members.
Haunted History Tours
Welcome to the dark side…of the Old Joliet Prison’s history. Guides share the prison’s “grim stories” on a tour that starts at dusk. There’s no ghost hunting on this tour, just ghost stories, but there are other tours for those interested in paranormal investigation. This one carries a “strongly recommended for 16+” warning.
Tour duration: 90 minutes.
Ticket prices: $40
Guard Tours
These tours are led by former prison employees who offer “a more personal take on the site’s history.” This tour is also recommended for those 16+.
Tour duration: 90 minutes.
Ticket prices: $40
Photography Tours
Photographers both amateur and professional can take photos “in the morning light with supervised access to the prison yard and limited, predesignated buildings.” As they put it: “the natural beauty of the limestone and architecture will inspire you.
Tour duration: 4 hours
Ticket prices: $50
Paranormal Investigation Tour
Groups are limited to 15 people and are led by both a historical guide from the museum and a special guest investigator. You’ll be guided to several areas of the prison to investigate with the group or on your own, and you’re welcome to bring your own equipment. This tour is recommended for those 18+.
Tour duration: 3.5 hours
Ticket prices: $75
Ghost Hunt 101 Tour – New for 2021!
This one is sort of a combo of the Haunted History and Paranormal Investigation tours. You’ll learn the haunted history, be taken to some hot spots, and get instructions on how to investigate. You’re welcome to bring your own equipment but they’ll also have some on hand you can use too. This tour is recommended for those 15+.
Tour duration: 2 hours
Ticket prices: $50
8 Things to Know Before You Go
- Most tours are recommended for ages 10 and older.
- You have to sign a waiver of liability.
- Closed-toe shoes and masks are required.
- Tours happen rain or shine so dress for the weather.
- Tickets are non-refundable. Make sure to double-check before you buy that you’ve selected the right date.
- Tours are not ADA approved.
- All tours require walking about a mile, but most tours last at least 90 minutes so expect some standing too.
- While tours are offered seven days a week, not all tours are offered every day.
For More Info
To learn more about the Old Joliet Prison History Site, visit: jolietprison.org.
To purchase tour tickets, visit: jolietmuseum.org/schedule-tour.
Check-In
Have you ever been to the Old Joliet Prison?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, as well as obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of healing, to learn how she channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I haven’t been there. I think it’s ironic that a place with such a painful history has such beautiful architecture.
I think that’s why prisons fascinate me. At last the historic ones like Alcatraz, Eastern State, Mansfield, etc… Their architecture is amazing, and yet it was housing for criminals. So interesting.