Historic Burlington County Prison Museum

01/28/2025

COME ENJOY A
“LOVE YOU TO DEATH”
VALENTINE’S DAY at the
HISTORIC BURLINGTON COUNTY PRISON MUSEUM
Friday, February 14, 2025 6 P.M. to 9:15 P.M.



FREE ADMISSION (but donations will be gratefully accepted!)

Spirit Boxes available $5 for 30 minutes - first come, first serve
Audio tour (also available in Spanish) - $3
Escape Game $10 per game – up to 4 people can play on each game – first
come, first serve

8 PM – 8:30 PM Join us in the Debtor’s Day Room for a discussion about
three inmates who “loved them to death” – Joel Clough, Wesley Warner and Barclay Peak (recommended for adults only)

We’ll be open from 6 P.M. to 10 P.M. – No admission after 9:15 P.M.

11/12/2024

Hello FaceBook Friends!

We now have SPIRIT BOXES at the Jail which our visitors can use for a small fee. Spirits are known to communicate through the radio waves picked up by the device. We will roll them our on our Paranormal Day on Nov. 16.

PARANORMAL DAY AT THE JAIL
Saturday, November 16, 2024

We will celebrate all things paranormal on Saturday, November 16. Our good friends from New Jersey Paranormal will be on hand from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for a meet and greet and to answer questions from all comers. Edward the Bone Reader, back by popular demand, will “read” the first 15 people who sign up. We hope to have another medium/reader as well. The museum opens at 10 a.m. and we will start taking reservations for readings at noon. Regular admission will be charged, and an additional $10 for a reading. Audio tours will be available for free. Brief tours will be available at noon and 2 p.m. featuring stories about Warden Harry King, Philip Lynch and Joel Clough, whose spirits are said to haunt the museum.

INTERESTING VISITOR

We always love it when former inmates and jail personnel visit the Jail. Last week we had a fellow who served 27 days back in the 1960s for a traffic violation. He was assigned to the Road Gang, which slept in the basement where the workshop is now. He tells us that his bunk was near the fireplace. The door between that area and the dining room/kitchen was locked, and the inmates in the kitchen would pass the road gang food through the hole above the fireplace.

Closed all legal holidays, Good Friday, Easter and the day after Thanksgiving.

11/11/2024

Hello FaceBook Friends!

Did you know that there is a song about the Old Jail in Mt. Holly? “Hard Times at the Mt. Holly Jail” was written around 1900:

https://youtu.be/UW5ZD75136k?si=tqbjds8nZQBta7Rn

Here is a jazzier version of the song, with video: https://livesessions.npr.org/videos/jackson-pines-mt-holly-jail-live-on-the-wxpn-folk-show

Don't forget to come to our Paranormal Day on November 16. We know that lots of you are interested in paranormal. Some surveys indicate that as many as three quarters of Americans believe in the paranormal in some form. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill always insisted that he saw Lincoln’s ghost once when he stayed at the White House during World War II. He had just taken a bath, and was still naked when he saw the great man’s spirit. “Good evening, Mr. President. You seem to have me at a disadvantage,” he said, just before the apparition dissolved. He always indulged in a scotch when he bathed, and that may have had something to do with his experience. Any combination of alcohol, drugs, exhaustion and tricks of light can contribute to an isolated experience like Churchill’s.

But many people have paranormal experiences on a daily basis, and psychologists all over the world have conducted studies on the topic. Some have concluded that believers have a weaker cognitive “inhibition” compared to skeptics. That’s the skill that allows you to quash unwanted thoughts. Everyone is occasionally spooked by strange coincidences and patterns, but the skeptic will push the thought aside.

Whatever makes some people more likely than others to believe in spirits, it turns out that many believers are also interested in history. We are very grateful to our friends John and Chris of New Jersey Paranormal, who have raised so much money for and awareness about the museum. You can read all about them on their website – www.newjerseyparanormal.com.

PARANORMAL DAY AT THE JAIL
Saturday, November 16, 2024

We will celebrate all things paranormal on Saturday, November 16. Our good friends from New Jersey Paranormal will be on hand from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for a meet and greet and to answer questions from all comers. Edward the Bone Reader, back by popular demand, will “read” the first 15 people who sign up. We hope to have another medium/reader as well. The museum opens at 10 a.m. and we will start taking reservations for readings at noon. Regular admission will be charged, and an additional $10 for a reading. Audio tours will be available for free. Brief tours will be available at noon and 2 p.m. featuring stories about Warden Harry King, Philip Lynch and Joel Clough, whose spirits are said to haunt the museum.


Don't forget to come to our Paranormal Day on November 16. We know that lots of you are interested in paranormal. Some surveys indicate that as many as three quarters of Americans believe in the paranormal in some form. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill always insisted that he saw Lincoln’s ghost once when he stayed at the White House during World War II. He had just taken a bath, and was still naked when he saw the great man’s spirit. “Good evening, Mr. President. You seem to have me at a disadvantage,” he said, just before the apparition dissolved. He always indulged in a scotch when he bathed, and that may have had something to do with his experience. Any combination of alcohol, drugs, exhaustion and tricks of light can contribute to an isolated experience like Churchill’s.

But many people have paranormal experiences on a daily basis, and psychologists all over the world have conducted studies on the topic. Some have concluded that believers have a weaker cognitive “inhibition” compared to skeptics. That’s the skill that allows you to quash unwanted thoughts. Everyone is occasionally spooked by strange coincidences and patterns, but the skeptic will push the thought aside.

Whatever makes some people more likely than others to believe in spirits, it turns out that many believers are also interested in history. We are very grateful to our friends John and Chris of New Jersey Paranormal, who have raised so much money for and awareness about the museum. You can read all about them on their website – www.newjerseyparanormal.com.

PARANORMAL DAY AT THE JAIL
Saturday, November 16, 2024

We will celebrate all things paranormal on Saturday, November 16. Our good friends from New Jersey Paranormal will be on hand from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for a meet and greet and to answer questions from all comers. Edward the Bone Reader, back by popular demand, will “read” the first 15 people who sign up. We hope to have another medium/reader as well. The museum opens at 10 a.m. and we will start taking reservations for readings at noon. Regular admission will be charged, and an additional $10 for a reading. Audio tours will be available for free. Brief tours will be available at noon and 2 p.m. featuring stories about Warden Harry King, Philip Lynch and Joel Clough, whose spirits are said to haunt the museum.

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard EnterprisesMount Holly Jail · Jim AlbertsonDown Jersey: Songs and Stories of Southern New Jersey℗ 2004 Smithsonian Folkway...

10/30/2024

PARANORMAL DAY
Saturday, November 16, 2024
HISTORIC BURLINGTON COUNTY PRISON
128 High Street (Corner High and Grant)
Mt. Holly, NJ

We will celebrate all things paranormal on Saturday, November 16. Our good friends from New Jersey Paranormal will be on hand from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for a meet and greet and to answer questions from all comers.
Edward the Bone Reader, back by popular demand, will “read” the first 15 people who sign up. We hope to have another medium/reader as well. The museum opens at 10 a.m. and we will start taking reservations for readings at noon. Regular admission will be charged, and an additional $10 for a reading. Audio tours will be available for free. Brief tours will be available at noon and 2 p.m. featuring stories about Warden Harry King, Philip Lynch and Joel Clough, whose spirits are said to haunt the museum.

12/05/2023

Hello Facebook Friends!

Don’t forget our OPEN HOUSE this Saturday, December 9. The Burlington County Prison Museum will be open for free from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This will be your last chance to see the museum until the end of January or early February. (It will be closed until then for some interior repairs and renovations.) New Jersey Paranormal will be on site for a meet and greet between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Shannon, the palm reader, and Edward, the Bone and Rune Reader, will read the first 15 people who reserve, at a cost of $15. Readings will occur between 1 and 4 p.m; reservations will be taken at noon and are expected to sell out immediately.

The Museum will be open for free, although donations will be gratefully accepted. Personal tours will not be given, but those who wish to take the audio tour may do so for $3. The escape game will be available as well ($10).

Our nifty little gift shop will be open – a great chance for you to get some unique Christmas gifts. We have great hoodies and tee shirts with the prison logo, and fun stocking stuffers, like shot glasses, key rings and booklets about some of our notorious inmates. One of the booklets is about Sheriff King, pictured second from right, who was murdered by an inmate in 1920. John and Chris of New Jersey Paranormal will have their table in the basement a few feet from where Sheriff King fell.

12/01/2023

Everybody used to love that wishing well!

The thing is, it was fake! It was really just a big lawn ornament that was placed over the spot where an old well once was. It succumbed to carpenter ants and bees and was finally thrown out about 20 years ago. Many are insistent, however, that it was not only real, but original to the Jail. But as can be seen by a photo of the Exercise Yard in 1937 – no wishing well. Notice the kitchen addition, that was removed in the 1980s, and the “lean to”. We don’t know what the latter was – maybe a chicken coop?

11/27/2023

Hello Facebook Friends!

The Museum is scheduled to reopen in mid-January after some further interior renovations are
completed. We’ll need volunteers when we re-open. Please consider becoming one. We need people
not only to give tours, but to help out in the gift shop, and to assist escape game players and
audio tour listeners. Don’t be afraid to give tours…it’s a lot easier than you think. It’s fun and
you meet a lot of really nice people. We have a great tour guide manual that tells you about ten
times more than you will ever need to know. If you are interested, email us at
[email protected].
We could also use people who like to research history. This is another thing that sounds really
hard but isn’t. Once you start digging
through old newspapers and other documents, you will be hooked. In a recent spin through the old
Freeholder Minutes, we found that in 1851, the Prison Inspectors were also in charge of taking care
of the Court House lawn. We got a laugh out of what their duties included:

The Inspectors of the Prison are requested to cause the Court House lot to be planted with
ornamental and shade trees and erect suitable protection for same and that they be required to
keep all horses, cows, sheep and swine out of said lot except it be at the annual exhibition of the
Burlington County Agricultural Society and further that the Resident Inspector use all proper means
to prevent as far as possible the use of said lot by the boys of the town as a playground.

Don’t forget our OPEN HOUSE on Saturday, December 9. The Museum will be open for free from 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. This will be your last chance to see the museum until after the New Year. Visitors can do
some Christmas shopping in our nifty little gift shop and chat with members of New Jersey
Paranormal, who will be on site for a meet and greet between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Shannon, the palm
reader who wowed the crowd two years ago, will also be back. She will read the palms of the first
15 people who reserve, at a charge of $15. Reservations will be taken at noon and are expected to
sell out immediately. Personal tours will not be given, but
those who wish to take the audio tour may do so for $3.

11/22/2023

Happy Thanksgiving to our Facebook Friends! Don’t forget to mark your calendars for our OPEN HOUSE on Saturday, December 9. The Museum will be open for free from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This will be your last chance to see the museum until after the New Year. Between now and then, it will be closed while the County does further repairs and renovations, this time on the interior. These include, much to our delight, repainting of the floors.

We need volunteers to help out at our open house on December 9. No heavy lifting --- all we want is for volunteers to walk through the building to make sure the crowd is moving along and to answer questions or direct them to someone who can answer any questions they have. If you’re interested, email us at [email protected].

Visitors can do some Christmas shopping in our nifty little gift shop and chat with members of New Jersey Paranormal, who will be on site for a meet and greet between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Shannon, the palm reader who wowed the crowd two years ago, will also be back. She will read the palms of the first 15 people who reserve, at a charge of $15. Reservations will be taken at noon and are expected to sell out immediately. Personal tours will not be given, but those who wish to take the audio tour may do so for $3.

Look at the great drone shot the contractors got last month:

11/14/2023

Hello again to our Facebook Friends! We have been taking a Facebook break since May, when the museum closed for renovations. The Museum is about to reopen, and we intend to keep in better touch going forward.

The Burlington County Commissioners outdid themselves on this project – wait until you see how great the old gal looks now! The PMA will celebrate the renovations with an Open House on Saturday, December 9. The Museum will be open for free from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers will be on hand to show visitors the new renovations and answer questions about the Jail’s history. Visitors can do some Christmas shopping in our nifty little gift shop and chat with members of New Jersey Paranormal, who will be on site for a meet and greet between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Shannon, the palm reader who wowed the crowd two years ago, will also be back. She will read the palms of the first 15 people who reserve, at a charge of $15. Reservations will be taken at noon and are expected to sell out immediately. Personal tours will not be given, but those who wish to take the audio tour may do so for $3. The audio tour is now available in Spanish; more about that later.

The photo shows the impressive new cedar shake roof and the newly pointed outside walls. Notice also the new patio, which extends to the back gate, making it easier for people in wheelchairs and walkers to get from the parking lot to the elevator. Whitewash has been applied to the lower part of the building, as it was in the 1800s and into the 1900s. For more information about the renovation project, see our latest newsletter, which you can find on our website – www.prisonmuseum.net.