Step inside the historical Kansas State Penitentiary

Behind these walls, time stands still. The historic Kansas State Penitentiary tour is a guided journey into the stories, spaces, and echoes of one of Kansas’ most historic institutions.

Choose Your Experience

Behind the Walls Historical Tour
Approximately 2 hours Cost $30
A guided walk-through focusing on history, architecture, and life inside the walls.

Behind the Walls Photography Tour
Approximately 3 hours Cost $40
Designed strictly for photography, this tour allows extended time for composition, lighting, and capturing details rarely seen. The Photography Tour is quiet, intentional, and focused solely on capturing the site.

Tour Size & Guests

Tours include 15–20 guests

You do not need to arrive as part of a group—individual visitors are always welcome.

Everyone tours together; all guests are taken through the same areas.

What to Expect

• This tour does involve a lot of walking.
• Guests move through the site at a steady, manageable pace.
• Knowledgeable guides lead you through cell houses and historic spaces, sharing stories that go far beyond the walls themselves.

Before You Arrive

• Please arrive early for check-in.
• Comfortable shoes are recommended.
• All guests must follow guide instructions for safety and preservation of the site.

Behind the Walls, History Lives On

This is more than a tour—it’s a step into the past, where stories remain etched in stone and steel.

In the early morning hours of June 18, 1969, the Kansas State Penitentiary was already tense. The night before, prison officials had conducted a rare general shakedown, searching cell houses for contraband. Cells were entered, property was removed, and inmates were kept awake well into the night. By morning, exhaustion and frustration hung heavily inside the walls.

After breakfast, inmates were sent to their regular work assignments. It was then that the unrest surfaced. Windows were smashed in two cell houses, and small fires were set, signaling that order inside the prison had begun to break down. What had simmered through the night now erupted in daylight.

Law enforcement quickly responded. More than 100 Kansas Highway Patrol troopers, along with officers from Lansing, Leavenworth, and Leavenworth County, surrounded the penitentiary as staff worked to regain control. Inside the walls, the electrical cell-locking system was badly damaged, complicating efforts to restore order.

During the disturbance, one inmate was shot in the arm by a tower guard attempting to disperse a group of rioting inmates in the yard. No hostages were taken, and the situation was eventually contained.

Prison officials later reported that the shakedown had resulted in the removal of large quantities of contraband, including weapons, drugs, money, and unauthorized furniture—items that had quietly accumulated over time. The events of that morning reflected not just a single incident, but a breaking point shaped by exhaustion, sudden enforcement, and the broader unrest common in American prisons during the late 1960s.

The historic Kansas State Penitentiary offers special group tours designed for schools, colleges, community organizations, educational programs, and similar organized groups.

These tours are available for groups of 15 or more participants and are offered at a discounted rate of $20 per person. Each group tour is private, meaning only your group will be on the tour.

To book a qualifying group tour, visit KSP Tour Tickets on our website. When prompted, select KDOC to reserve the $20 per person group rate.

Advance registration and payment are required for all group tours. Because tour availability can be affected by unexpected or random bookings, planning ahead allows us to properly schedule guides and ensure a quality experience for your group.

For questions about group tours or scheduling, please contact us before booking at info@lansingkansashistory.com.

The Lansing Historical Society and Museum is situated on the Kansas State Penitentiary grounds, serving as a vital center for the local community’s history. It focuses on preserving and sharing the unique heritage of Lansing and the surrounding Delaware Township, with significant emphasis on the roles of railroads, prisons, and coal mining in shaping the area.

The Museum Experience

Housed in a meticulously restored 1887 Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway depot, the museum is more than just a display of artifacts; it offers a rich, immersive experience through local history. Visitors can explore an extensive collection of photographs and historical documents, including school images dating back to 1908, providing a comprehensive understanding of the region’s past.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Lansing Historical Society is to safeguard and share the rich history of Delaware Township, including the City of Lansing and the town of Progress. Through our collections and exhibits, we aim to preserve authentic historical materials and broaden the public’s awareness of local stories.

Trains and Trolleys

The museum highlights the profound impact of the transcontinental railroad on the nation’s growth during the Civil War. Notable railroads, including the Kansas City-Western Railway Co., traversed through towns in Delaware Township, connecting communities and fueling economic development. The museum’s collection includes railroad maps, documents, timetables, and photographs that chronicle this important aspect of local history.

The Coal Mines

Established in 1859 by the Kansas Territorial Legislature, the Kansas State Penitentiary is one of the oldest correctional institutions in the U.S., designed by local architect Erasmus T. Carr. The facility significantly influenced the development of the area, fostering the growth of the nearby Town of Progress.
From 1944 to 1965 it conducted hangings for capital punishment with notable cases including those of Lowell Andrews and the Clutter family murderers, Perry Smith and Richard Hickock, whose stories are immortalized in Truman Capote’s novel, “In Cold Blood.” Smith and Hickock were hung April 15, 1965 followed by George Lathrop and James York two months later on the 22 June.

The discovery of coal in Delaware Township led to the establishment of several coal mines, including Carr, Brighton, and the Kansas State Penitentiary. KSP not only utilized its coal resources to power its operations but also supplied fuel to numerous state buildings, highlighting the prison’s role in the states economy.

Kansas State Penitentiary

History of
Delaware Township

Delaware Township is the historical heart of the Lansing region, encompassing several former towns, such as Progress, Brighton, and Wadsworth. The township’s history includes the development of the Brighton Mine and the flourishing agricultural sectors, like the Ryan Brothers Cattle Farm, highlighting the diverse economic landscape of the area from the late 19th century to today.

The Lansing Historical Society and Museum plays a crucial role in preserving this intricate tapestry of history, ensuring that future generations can learn about and appreciate the rich legacy of their community.

A Chapter of Our History Preserved by the Lansing Historical Society

On this day, we remember Truman Capote, born September 30, 1924.
Best known for his groundbreaking work “In Cold Blood,” Capote spent time at the Kansas State Penitentiary while researching the lives of Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, the two men convicted of the Clutter Family murders. He referred to the penitentiary as a “turreted black-and-white palace.”
Capote’s visits here were pivotal – without them, In Cold Blood would not have become the landmark of American literature that it is today. Though no scenes from the book’s film adaptation were shot inside KSP, the penitentiary’s history is deeply entwined with the story.
Capote is a part of our community’s history, and the Lansing Historical Society and Museum is proud to preserve and share this chapter through our exhibits and tours of the historic Kansas State Penitentiary.
Book your tour before the season ends on November 9, 2025.

In 1859, the Kansas Territorial Legislature took a significant step by establishing a state penitentiary in Leavenworth County. A 40-acre tract was acquired in Delaware Township, paving the way for the Kansas State Penitentiary. This decision came despite the fervent opposition of Leavenworth residents who voiced strong concerns about the location. At that time, the area was seen as remote and isolated, lacking any nearby towns except for the tiny community of Delaware to the east. The establishment of this institution marked a pivotal moment in the region’s history, as it set the stage for future development, even in the face of local resistance.

The original architectural design of the Kansas State Penitentiary was the work of Erasmus T. Carr, who began planning the structure in 1861. Drawing inspiration from the Gothic-style Illinois State Prison at Joliet, Carr incorporated striking Gothic architectural elements into the facility’s design — both for their imposing visual effect and their symbolic expression of law and order.

The administrative building featured four distinctive turrets, one at each corner, giving the structure a castle-like appearance. Matching turrets and Gothic elements were also integrated into each corner of the North and South Cell Houses, reinforcing the symmetry and stylistic consistency across the front façade.

The prison was built primarily from locally quarried limestone, with the inmates themselves performing the majority of the labor. In a testament to resourcefulness and regional craftsmanship, the material used as mortar between the limestone blocks was sourced from the Missouri River. During rainy years, when the river rose and covered nearby sandbars, construction often paused until the sandbars reemerged and materials could be gathered again.

This fusion of Gothic Revival design and frontier practicality created one of the most imposing and historically significant prison structures in the Midwest.

His Gothic-style architectural vision gave rise to the castles-like appearance that Truman Capote, in his book In Cold Blood, described the penitentiary as a “black and white castle,” capturing its imposing and eerie beauty. The look was further intensified by the presence of an on-site coal mine, which operated from 1881 to 1947.

While the penitentiary has retained much of its historical integrity, the original front, once covered in green vines and vegetation, is now boarded by modern fencing and Constantine wire, offering a sharp contrast to its 19^th-century past.

Step behind the stone walls of the historic Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing—where every corridor echoes with the footsteps of men who would never walk free again.

On this unforgettable tour, you’ll stand inside the very cells that held inmates serving life for murder. You’ll peer into the cold, dark corners of segregation, where the worst of the worst were kept—some awaiting their turn on death row.

This isn’t just a tour. It’s a journey into the past… into the minds of the condemned… and into the heart of a prison that has seen over a century of secrets, sorrow, and survival.

Are you ready to walk where they walked?
Book your tour today—and experience history from the inside.

Decommissioned in 2020 after housing inmates for more than 160 years, the Kansas State Penitentiary remains a powerful symbol of Kansas’s complex legacy of crime and punishment. While no longer housing the incarcerated, the facility is far from silent. The Kansas Department of Corrections continues to utilize the historic administration building for training and operational purposes. Most notably, the fourth floor still houses the state’s lethal injection chamber—often referred to as the “death chamber”—which remains intact and operational. Because of this, the penitentiary has not been fully decommissioned.

What makes this site unlike any other in the country is that public tours are conducted within the walls of a facility that is still bordered on all four sides by an active, working maximum-security prison. These rare and powerful tours are led by the Lansing Historical Society Museum, featuring guides who served as wardens, assistant wardens, and correctional officers—offering firsthand accounts and behind-the-scenes insight into one of America’s oldest and most formidable institutions.

This is not a re-creation. This is not a simulation. This is real history, surrounded by real prison operations, unfolding in real time.

On May 15, 1970, Johnny Cash stood on the stage of the auditorium of the Kansas State Penitentiary and launched one of the most audacious feats in music history, a record that has never been broken. That day, the Man in Black, set a record by performing at three different prisons in a single day, starting right here in Lansing, Kansas.