On this day one hundred years ago, a riot occurred at the Western Penitentiary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Trouble began during lunch when prisoners began to throw their silverware and plates in order to start a diversion while other convicts set fire to the building. The rioting lasted for two hours and law enforcement from Pittsburgh and Allegheny County was brought in to help the prison guards put down the revolt.
Five of the convicts were seriously injured in the melee and the prison sustained a great deal of fire damage.
Western Penitentiary was once visited by Charles Dickens, who reportedly based “A Christmas Carol” on conditions he found there.
During the Civil War 118 Confederate prisoners of war were held there temporarily after their capture in Morgan’s Raid to the west.
