The Real History of the Prison Where Dark Prison Lives

Most haunted houses hire a writer to invent a backstory. The one inside the Nevada State Prison has the opposite problem: 150 years of documented history, and the walkthrough only has time for some of it.

Dark Prison operates inside the real former Nevada State Prison in Carson City. Before you go, it’s worth knowing what the building actually is, because the truth outruns anything the haunt could script.

Older than the state itself

The prison opened in 1862, two years before Nevada joined the Union. Abraham Curry, the founder of Carson City, had been running a hotel with warm springs on the site; the territory bought it, and Curry became the first warden. Inmates spent decades quarrying sandstone on the grounds, and that stone built the Nevada State Capitol and a good share of Carson City’s landmarks. The quarry also coughed up prehistoric footprints and mammoth bones, because of course it did.

The heavy history

From 1903, every Nevada execution happened here. In 1913 the prison used a “shooting machine” on Andriza Mircovich, the only execution of its kind in state history. And on February 8, 1924, the Nevada State Prison carried out the first lethal-gas execution anywhere in the world, a grim distinction that put this quiet Carson City hillside into history books globally. The gas era ran through 1979, and the state’s first lethal injection followed here in 1985. Serial killers Carroll Cole and Gerald Gallego both spent time behind these walls.

None of this is set dressing. When the haunt’s medical wing leans clinical and cold, the building has been colder.

The Bullpen: the only inmate casino in America

Here’s the fact nobody believes at first. After Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, the prison allowed inmates to run their own casino. The Bullpen dealt blackjack, craps, and poker from 1932 until 1967, complete with brass tokens minted inside the walls. It’s the only known inmate-operated casino in American history, and it ran for 35 years before a reforming warden shut it down. Only in Nevada.

Closure, ghosts, and a second life

The state closed the prison in May 2012 for budget reasons, and the Nevada State Prison Preservation Society formed within months to save it. The site landed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015, Ghost Adventures came to film in 2016, and paranormal tours have run there ever since. Locals call it one of the most haunted places in Northern Nevada, and unlike most places carrying that label, this one has the death-house records to argue the case.

The haunted house era began after a Preservation Society board member walked through Dark Corner’s downtown Reno haunt in 2022 and invited the crew to bring their show to a real prison. Dark Prison opened its first full season in 2025, and part of every ticket now funds the preservation of the site. The scares change every season. The building’s history doesn’t need to.