Archive photographs line the wall at the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary visitors center.
photo by M.A. Locke
Visitors walk past the prison gymnasium.
photo by M.A. Locke
Prison cells in the main building.
photo by M.A. Locke
The museum, left, faces an outdoor basketball court and whipping post.
photo by M.A. Locke
Exercise pen for maximum security prisoners.
photo by M.A. Locke
Side view of the main prison building.
photo by M.A. Locke
One of the cells that housed James Earl Ray, who murdered Martin Luther King, Jr.
photo by M.A. Locke
The prison reopened on May 1, with posted guidelines for visitors.
photo by M.A. Locke
Warden's Table restaurant
photo by M.A. Locke
4-wheelers are common in the rural county where the prison is located.
photo by M.A. Locke
After more than a century of holding Tennessee's most dangerous criminals, Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary is now closed to prisoners but open to visitors.
The prison is located in Petros, Tn., in Morgan County.
For more information, see the article in Happenings by Jerry Summers.