The Nevada State Prison now sits idle after closing its doors one final time on May 12, 2012. The process to make NSP live again, as an educational landmark, is now underway. Please enjoy this website and learn more about our preservation efforts.

Did You Know?
*The first Nevada Territorial Legislature was held at Abraham Curry’s Warm Springs Hotel on the site where the prison now sits. The year was 1862. Mark Twain reported on this session.
*Abraham Curry, the father of Carson City, became the first Territorial Prison Warden.
*The prison quarry and its inmate labor force supplied the hand hewn sandstone blocks for some of Nevada’s most famous buildings, including the Capital.
* As subsequent layers were removed from the sandstone quarry, dozens of fossilized pre-historic animals were revealed, including footprints of a giant sloth living 1.6 million years ago. The footprints were initially thought to be from an ancient race of giant humans!
* The Nevada State Prison had a casino where inmates were allowed to gamble from 1932 to 1967. The casino included sports betting, horse racing, craps, blackjack and poker.
*Convict Lake in Mono County, California received its name when a group of escaped convicts from the Nevada State Prison engaged in a famous shoot out with the posse that had trapped them there. This was one of the most notorious and deadly prison escapes in the 19th century.
* Until 1873, the Lieutenant Governor was also the State Prison Warden.
*Nevada’s most famous architect, Frederic J. Delongchamps, designed three major buildings at the Nevada State Prison.
* In October of 2015, the Nevada State Prison was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Recent news

Tour Dates for the 2024 TOUR SEASON!
The Board of Directors have set the following dates and times for the 2024 tour season of the Historic Nevada State Prison. Each tour day...
NSP on the radio!
Reno Media Group, with nine local radio stations, took a tour of the historic Nevada State Prison site, and interviewed our Vice...
Ghost Walks at NSP…
Ghost Walk dates have not yet been released. Please Check out our Box Office for all of the details as we update them for...
Nevada Day at NSP Status
We had 144 tickets available for a special event on Nevada Day 2020. All 144 tickets were issued overnight, and we had 60 additional...
‘The Mustang’ released in select movie theaters
'The Mustang,' the movie shot at Nevada State Prison in 2017, made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival and is currently in limited...
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