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15 for ’26 Ride #11: Historic Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary

Petros, TN

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Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary sign outside the prison gate, 9182 TN-116, Petros, TN 37845 (there is no fee unless you enter prison grounds)

Known as “The End of the Line,” the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary held some of Tennessee’s worst criminals. In operation from 1896 through 2009, the maximum-security prison housed murderers, rapists, kidnappers, and other ne’er-do-wells. One of its most infamous inmates was James Earl Ray, the assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who tried to escape several times.

Although the prison did not have a death row, many inmates died there, and the facility is said to be haunted.

Today the historic penitentiary operates as a tourist attraction, offering guided and self-guided tours and night-time “Paranormal Investigation” tours (which are costly and must be booked in advance). There is a restaurant and micro-distillery onsite.


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