♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Local limestone is on display in grand fashion at the Anamosa State Penitentiary.

This towering gothic revival prison was built by inmates and has been in operation for more than 150 years.

Learn the story behind the facility at the Anamosa State Penitentiary Museum.

[Steve Wendl] Well, the first thing that most people notice is the architecture.

In a small little Iowa town like Anamosa rose this magnificent structure.

In fact, most inmates when they are brought here by the local sheriff and they first see this place, they are completely overwhelmed.

They'll tell you, even years later they'll tell you, I still remember that day when I first crested the hill and saw that place.

It's like somebody transported a European castle into this small Iowa town.

♪♪ [Kohlsdorf] Steve Wendl spent 31 years as a correctional counselor at Anamosa.

He co-founded the museum with another counselor, the late Dick Snavely.

They found the perfect museum location just outside the prison walls in a building that had once housed an inmate-operated cheese factory.

[Steve Wendl] Neither one of us were museum people.

But we toured a lot and we tried to absorb as much as we could about how to construct this place.

We had very little in terms of finance.

He was able to get a state of Iowa grant.

We had to decide what would appeal most to folks.

Certainly, you wanted to have a construction element.

That was such an important part of it because people are intrigued by the outside of the place.

They're also intrigued about the inside of the place.

♪♪ [Steve Wendl] A prison is run very much like a small community.

That's what it is.

It's a community of a thousand.

And so, you have to have all the basics.

Part of our job is to show them elements of that small city.

[Kohlsdorf] Exhibits include the tools of the prison trade, a gallery of Anamosa's infamous inmates, and a history of convict-created artwork, which is both in display and available for purchase.

Photos and memorabilia tell the story of the prison's years as the Iowa State Reformatory, an era when members of the public were welcomed inside for tours, joint church services and sporting events.

[Steve Wendl] We no longer offer those tours.

And so, part of our notion was the story still needs to be told, that curiosity hasn't gone away, people are still wanting to know about this place.

Well, in lieu of no more tours, we have this.

♪♪