State Pen Spirits
The Legend
The old New Mexico State Penitentiary, visible to your northwest from this location, was the site of a violent and bloody riot in February 1980 which led to the death of at least 33 inmates, some of which were baked alive in the cafeteria oven, hung from upper tiers of cell blocks, dismembered and decapitated, and even had their bodies blow-torched right into the floor of Cell Block 4. Now vacant except for occasional use by film crews and law enforcement training projects, the old facility has been called possibly one of the most haunted locations in North America. Former prison guards and even cast and crew members from film sets have told of encounters with apparitions of former convicts wandering the halls, sounds of disembodied voices moaning through the cell blocks, and cell doors slamming shut when no one is around (including once when a movie set extra wandered off, entered a cell and became trapped there when the door mysteriously closed behind him and locked him in).
The Location
The old portion of the prison was built in the mid-1950s, but the 1980 riot led to its closing and the building of more modern, less crowded facilities to its north and south. The site has been used as a location for film productions including the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard, starring Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Burt Reynolds and others. For several years after production, the water tower you see just to the left of the building proudly displayed the word “Allenville” as the prison in the movie was located in the fictional Allenville, Texas. The buildings have also been used as a set storage and staging area for many other major film productions in recent years. The most haunted part of the old prison is Cell Block 4 (shown in photo), where the outline of charred victims of a propane torch still exist on the concrete floor.
The Cache
By design, the cache is a fast park ‘n’ grab best accessed by parking on the shoulder of the road. Highway 14 can be pretty busy with traffic at certain times of the day so please be careful pulling off and back onto the road.
The Series
Most of the caches in this series are located in downtown Santa Fe and are easily accessible on foot at night should you be bold enough to do so. Please post photos if you encounter any otherworldly entities while searching!
Other caches in the series are:
- GC2KEY4 Santa Fe Ghost Hunt #1: La Llorona
- GC2KEYJ Santa Fe Ghost Hunt #2: Julia Staab
- GC2N92H Santa Fe Ghost Hunt #3: The Old Hospital
- GC2NWWG Santa Fe Ghost Hunt #4: Grant Corner Inn