For a guy who is on the National Parole Board, the day held excitement when I woke up: a tour of Kingston Penitentiary. Now, you may be thinking, "Why would you want to visit a prison on your vacation?" And that's a good point. But getting to see Kingston Pen or any maximum security prison is a rare glimpse inside part of our society that one doesn't often (or ever) get to see, even for a Parole Board member. When it closed in 2013, Kingston Pen concluded a 177-year history as Canada's oldest federal prison. Its history is colourful and storied. All that to say, the experience was very memorable.
Beyond that, we took in a couple of other quick sights in Kingston before checking out of the Marriott at noon and heading west on the 401, with what felt like a million other travelers, all heading back to the centre of the universe (a.k.a. Toronto) at the end of a holiday weekend. There were two social stops enroute: Trenton and Oshawa. We returned the rental car at Pearson at 6:30PM, having driven 711KM over the 60 hours we were in Ontario. Pearson was a bit of a zoo, with people flying hither and yon after the long weekend. We left a few minutes early and arrived in Halifax 15 minutes early. After a long baggage wait (imagine!), we pulled into the driveway at 12:45AM, feeling happy to be home - as always - but feeling content at our wonderful Ontario experience.
The entrance to Kingston Pen, on sloping King Street West in Kingston.
The main gate on the inside. Impenetrable!
Looking towards the main entrance from within the courtyard.
This building held female inmates. Its most celebrated inmate was also the youngest: an eight-year old caught pickpocketing steamship passengers in Montreal. Talking was prohibited back in those years of the 1800s, and this little fellow talked a blue streak. He was whipped many, many times. Eventually, he was released on compassionate grounds and, according to our guide, never re-offended.
The prison's hospital.
This building holds all the 400+ cells, in four wings, with each wing being four stories high. After the 1971 riot (see further on), a ceiling was built between the second and third floors, to ensure that neither inmates nor personnel could be thrown over the railing to their death, as almost happened during the riot.
This is 'range' 2F, showing a typical two-storey range in the prison.
This is a typical cell. Note, however, that when the prison first opened, the cells were half this width, complying with the very inhumane Victorian era cells of Britain. Such a narrow cell could accommodate a murphy bed and, when the bed was lowered, nothing else.
Pam, testing out any potential claustrophobic tendencies.
Where the four cell-block wings come together, there is a common space topped with a huge dome.
This is the detention unit, where offenders who showed very bad behaviour were placed, either as punishment and/or for a cooling off period. Prisoners were kept in these cells for 23 hours each day, and the heavy steel doors were mechanically closed.
Just like in the movies, meals, books, and medication were all delivered to inmates in these cells via this steel-flap door.
When visitors came to see an inmate, they sat behind the glass, while the inmate was locked in a cage. Communication was via telephone only.
There were three riots in Kingston Pen's history, the most recent of which was on April 19, 1971, lasting four days. The inmates heard rumours that they were going to be transferred to the newly built Millhaven Penitentiary nearby. Having heard that the new facility was worse than Kingston Pen, they took one, then two, then four more guards hostage, ransacked the place (as shown in the range above -- the wooden structure on the right was part of the chapel, which was thrown down from the fourth floor). Things started to deteriorate after the first day, when the inmates had eaten everything in the canteen. They tortured several fellow inmates housed in Protective Care (former judges, lawyers, etc.), and eventually, with the Canadian military's help, the riot was brought to an end. Ironically, everyone ended up going to Millhaven for eight months, while Kingston Pen was repaired. The Millhaven transfer had never been part of the Correctional Service's plan, by the way.
We were shocked to hear our tour guide tell the story of Billy Knight -- Pam's dad's name! -- as the instigator of the riot.
This was the canteen price list at the time of the 2013 closure. The prices may look cheap, compared to 2025 prices, but you must remember: daily wages were $6.90, for those who had employment in the prison.
The prison had several conjugal units, where spouses and family could visit twice per year.
A guard tower. There was only one escape from Kingston. In 1948, two prisoners got away via a truck that left to run errands. One of the two shot the driver, for which he was hanged. That was the last hanging to take place at Kingston Pen.
This is an aerial view of the Pen, taken during the 1971 riot. You can see the four wings of the cell-block building.
Looking at the prison from the outside.
Belvedere House, a National Historic Site.
Murney Tower
Modern art installation in Breakwater Park.
Enroute back to Toronto, we exited the 401 and went to visit friends, Matthew and Amanda Whalen, in Trenton.
The next stop was Oshawa, where we had a nice visit with Pam's Aunt Sandra and Uncle Bruce.
The sun was starting to set when we took off from Pearson. We were fortunate to have this amazing close-up view of downtown Toronto, with all its skyscrapers and the dominating CN Tower.
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