Forbidden ruins of Folsom's past | Bartell's Backroads

it's off-limits to the public it's rarely photographed and it's heavily guarded this is the Folsom dam correction this is what's left of the old Folsom dam and it sits in the shadows of the current Folsom dam this is granite that was buried on prison property the only way to access the old dam is to enter the town of repressor and get permission from Folsom state prison warden Rick hill so this was courted by like and we was courted by by inmate workers yes before the Folsom dam and before the Folsom Prison there was a landowner an entrepreneur by the name of Horatio Livermore and he had a big problem owned the property but didn't have the financial means to build the dam and build the canal Livermore was in the logging and mining business but to grow that business he needed cheap labour to help build a new dam that would power a giant new sawmill good news for him California needed a place to build a new state prison so over pot overcrowding at San Quentin plus some incorrigible inmates violence they needed a prison at the time that could handle those kind of problems in what would become a very messy roundabout and lengthy deal Horacio managed to talk legislators out of building a prison in Rocklin in exchange for labor and 350 acres of his land along the American River it took ten years for the legislature just to make the decision whether to to take him up on his offer to build a prison in Folsom in exchange for the labor and the land [Music] the prison was built in 1880 but contract and labor disagreements continually delayed the progress on the dam and its canal it wasn't until 1893 that water first flowed through the canal walls both sides the first electrically lighted prison in the world unfortunately Horatio Livermore never got to see the finish dam he died one year before its completion Livermore sawmill was built but his sons eventually took the company in another direction his sons after he died saw that this couldn't could be more than just about you know the canal and the sawmill so they envisioned an electrical power plant which they broke and that power plant was constructed in 1895 and it produced power to the city of Folsom all the way up until 1952 Folsom existed because the deal with the dam and the property the offer of the property it was progress and flood management that eventually led to the construction of the current Folsom dam then came the destruction of the old dam along with that famous railroad that Johnny Cash once sang about [Music] it's gone these ruins may not be very accessible but they're well guarded and they're there to remind us that Folsom probably wouldn't be the Folsom we know today had it not been for Horatio Livermore and the labor of thousands of inmates just whether it's the craftsmanship whether its clues to the past you know something that I haven't seen before I'm constantly seeing things around the prison that I didn't notice the last time I came to there it's a great place door from inside the prison walls and repressor I'm John Bartell hope to see you on the back [Music] hey thanks for watching and check out more videos just like this also let me know in the comments what you want me to check out next did you click I'm not standing here for nothing yeah click right there

Channel: ABC10

Views: 12,658

Keywords: Folsom, California, Folsom prison, Folsom dam, old folsom dam, original folsom dam, prison, johnny cash, folsom prison blues, folsom history, folsom prison history

Id: 4kuMIfUFk8w

Length: 4min 9sec (249 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 26 2019