Crime and Punishment in Kingston

Dense population and high crime rates, has led to the creation of several prisons in Ontario over the years - and their history is well-documented. From Kingston Penitentiary to the Prison for Women, there is a lot of infamous history and much of it lies in the city of Kingston. 

At its peak. there were ten active penitentiaries operating in the Greater Kingston Area, and while many of them - okay, let's be honest; most of them - are not open to the public, you can still have a look from the outside and get a sense of their presence in the local community. Even staring at Kingston Pen's North Lodge provides a sense of Canada's penal system. On occasion public tours of Kingston Pen are available, but you have to be quick to scoop up tickets. 

Our Crime and Punishment tour leads you past some of the famous historic sites and neighborhoods. To improve the experience, there are many books to choose from. We suggest Merilyn Simonds wonderful The Convict Lover  - a book that pieces together a narrative from discovered letters between a civilian and a convict at Kingston Pen. Also worth reading is Rose Ricciardelli's Surviving Incarceration - comprehensive collection of interivews with sixty former inmantes, who tell of their experiences on the inside. 

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