Rutland Prison Camp
Normally I do not publish the location of sites I explore, but the Rutland Prison Camp is hardly a secret. It sits within Rutland State Park and is open to the public.
Built in 1903, this prison held prisoners who committed minor offenses. The property included a functioning farm which the prisoners worked at. The farm mostly grew potatoes and cultivated livestock including chickens and cows. In 1907, a tuberculosis hospital was built on the grounds to treat the prisoners. The prison and surrounding grounds were abandoned in 1934 due to construction of the Quabbin Reservoir.
On my visit to the camp, I first approached the root cellar, which is buried into a hillside. The sheer quiet of the area, combined with the graffiti, makes this feel sinister.
A few hundred feet away from the root cellar is what's left of a prison cell block. This structure was solitary confinement, and there are 4 cells total in this structure. The rest of the prison is lost gone, as most of the site had been demolished previously.
There is not a lot to say about these cells. They are small and lack any type of windows. I can only imagine what being in this cell was like back in the early 1900s.
Near the solitary building there are some additional abandonments in the form of walls and a tunnel that was used for drainage. It doesn't go anywhere.
Location: Rutland State Park, Rutland, MA
Explored: September 2020
Status: Still Standing*
*The state proposed plans to demolish the remaining structures in summer 2021 and limit access to the watershed area, but community response has temporarily halted this plan. The future of this site remains unclear.