rare late 19th or early 20th century antique american hand-forged iron stillwater prison twine factory door handle

rare one-of-a-kind late 19th or early 20th century antique american stillwater prison door handle salvaged from the old twine or rope factory shortly after it burned to the ground. with the exception of the warden's house, guard towers and surrounding stone walls, the prison was demolished or destroyed by fire from neglect and abandonment. the lightly refinished forged iron handle was likely fabricated by an inamte of the prison. the oversized handle contains two holes for mounting flush against the door. the minnesota territorial prison, later the minnesota state prison, was a prison in stillwater, minnesota, united states, in operation from 1853 to 1914. construction of the prison began in 1851, shortly after minnesota became a territory. the prison was replaced by the minnesota correctional facility – stillwater in nearby bayport. most of the original prison's structures were demolished in 1936, leaving only the 1853 warden's house and a manual labor complex that had been constructed 1884–1898. the surviving factory buildings were listed on the national register of historic places in 1982 for having state-level significance in the themes of industry and social history. the historic site, long since unused, was destroyed by arson on september 3, 2002. it was formally delisted from the national register in 2005.