Is South Dakota one of the last states still using a 19th-century prison facility?

The 145-year-old South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls is one of only a few active prison facilities in the country that was built in the 19th century.

South Dakota lawmakers have been debating a new prison location that would replace the existing pen that was built in the early 1880s. Gov. Larry Rhoden has put his support behind a new prison in northeastern Sioux Falls near Benson Road. Prison proponents cite the building’s age and lack of space as a reason for a new facility.

Several states have men’s state correctional facilities older than South Dakota.

Indiana State Prison was built in 1860, the Menard Correctional Center in Illinois opened in 1878, Wisconsin’s Waupun Correction Institution was finished in 1854 and the New Jersey State Prison was built in 1833. 

New York’s Auburn Correctional Facility was built in 1817 and was the first to use the electric chair.