Yuma Territorial Prison: The Dark Cell, the Ghosts and the History

Yuma Territorial Prison sits on Prison Hill above the Colorado River, about three miles west of where the Gila River joins it. For 33 years, from 1876 to 1909, it held the territory’s convicts in cells cut into the hillside and built from local stone and adobe, with iron strap-lattice doors. Today you can walk the cell block, stand in the yard under the guard tower and step into the dark cell, the windowless cave used for punishment.

The prison’s reputation for ghosts is just as strong as its history. Stories center on the dark cell, a little girl in red and the inmates buried in the prison cemetery. Below we set out what the records say, how the ghost stories began and what to expect when you visit.

History of Yuma Territorial Prison

The first inmate arrived on July 1, 1876, and prisoners provided the labor for building and repairing the prison for years afterward. Over its life the prison held 3,069 people, including 29 women, convicted of crimes from murder to polygamy. Its most famous inmate was Pearl Hart, the stagecoach robber; others included Buckskin Frank Leslie, Pete Spence, Burt Alvord and the Mexican revolutionary Ricardo Flores Magon.

It was harsh, but not as harsh as its legend. The Yuma Sun, drawing on historian Troy Taylor, notes that for its day it was considered a model institution, with medical care, schooling for inmates and one of the first public libraries in the territory, and it had an electric generator powering lights and ventilation. Nobody was executed here, since hangings were a county matter. Disease was the great killer: True West puts the number of deaths at 111, mostly from tuberculosis, and 104 prisoners lie in the cemetery on the hill.

Punishment for breaking prison rules meant the dark cell, a small cave dug into the hill and closed with a strap-iron door, where a man could be kept in total darkness. The story of an 1887 riot is also part of the prison’s lore.

Overcrowding forced the move to a new prison at Florence, and the last prisoner left on September 15, 1909. Yuma Union High School then used the buildings from 1910 to 1914, which is why Yuma High’s teams are still called the Criminals. Later, migrants and homeless families lived in the empty cells, and locals carried off building materials. The site later became the third historic park in Arizona and is part of the Yuma Crossing National Register listing. It has appeared in fiction ever since, most famously in 3:10 to Yuma.

The ghosts of Yuma Territorial Prison

The dark cell

Most of the prison’s ghost stories start here. The Yuma Sun retold an account from museum employee Linda Offeney: a writer for Arizona Highways asked to be locked in the dark cell for two days with only bread and water for a story, but within hours was shouting to be let out, saying someone else was in there with her. True West tells the same story with the writer lasting 37 hours.

The park’s own site says visitors in the cell report an angry voice telling them to get out, and the old claim that two inmates kept there went insane and were sent to the asylum in Phoenix adds to its air.

The girl in red

The prison’s own write-up tells of a little girl who drowned in the Colorado River trying to rescue her doll. Her spirit is said to pinch visitors, especially those who wear red. Older versions, including ours, made her the child of a family living in the cells during the Depression. Either way, there is no record of who she was.

Inmates who never left

Visitors describe a sense of being watched in the cell block, cold spots and voices. The park lists among its spirits inmates from death row, men who died by suicide and prisoners from the 1887 riot. Offeney also kept a 1930s photograph of a woman visitor in which she believed a ghostly figure appeared.

Lights and the cash register

Museum staff told the Yuma Sun of lights switching on and off by themselves and of money flying out of the gift shop register and landing back in the drawer.

Where to look

• The dark cell: cut into the hill at the edge of the yard; step inside and let your eyes adjust, or don’t.
• The cell block: the row of strap-iron doors where most sightings and voices are reported.
• The main gate and guard tower: the arched sally port and the tower overlooking the river.
• The prison cemetery: on the hillside, with the graves of 104 inmates.
• The museum: for mug shots, the stories of Pearl Hart and others, and the gift shop of the flying cash.

Visiting Yuma Territorial Prison

The park is open every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and their eves: 9 AM to 4:30 PM from October through May and 8:30 AM to 4 PM from June through September. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for ages 7 to 13 and free for younger children. Allow at least an hour and a half for the museum, cells, yard and cemetery.

Yuma is one of the hottest cities in the country, and much of the prison is open to the sun. In summer arrive at opening time; from November to March the weather is ideal. The Colorado River, the Yuma Quartermaster Depot and downtown, with its own ghost walks, are all close by.

• Visiting Arizona State Parks historic park, open daily
• Tours Self-guided visits of the cells, dark cell, guard tower and museum
• Hours and season 8:30 AM to 4 PM June to September; 9 AM to 4:30 PM October to May
• Tickets Adults $10, ages 7 to 13 $7, under 7 free

Tips for your visit

• Go early in the day, especially from May to September.
• Step into the dark cell and close your eyes for a minute; it is the heart of the stories.
• Wear red if you want to meet the girl in red, according to the legend.
• Visit the cemetery on the hill last, when the light is lower.
• Ask at the desk about evening and seasonal events, which change from year to year.

More haunted places nearby

• Haunted places in Arizona: the Bird Cage Theatre, Jerome and the rest of the state
• Haunted places in Phoenix: the Orpheum, the Rosson House and the Superstition Mountains, three hours east
• Haunted hotels in Arizona: for a haunted place to stay on your trip
• Haunted places in Arizona

Sources

Facts on this page are checked against the official website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as staff, visitors and investigators tell them, and we say where records contradict a story.

• Arizona State Parks: Yuma Territorial Prison State Historic Park
• Wikipedia: Yuma Territorial Prison
• Yuma Sun: Ghosts at the Territorial Prison? Some think so
• True West: The paranormal prison
• Yuma Territorial Prison: named best haunted destination (2019)
• azfamily: Haunted history in downtown Yuma (2026)