The prison, which opened in 1889, is a facility of the Michigan Department of Corrections that holds about 1,100 inmates in maximum and minimum-security housing.

[1] MBP was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in order to maintain its original buildings.

MBP has become one of the state's most outstanding tourist attractions because of the beautiful flower gardens and other landscaping around the prison grounds.

The Detroit Red Wings played an exhibition game on an outdoor ice surface, in 21 °F (−6 °C) degree weather, against inmates at Marquette Branch Prison.

[4] During the late 19th century the population in the Upper Peninsula quickly grew as did the number of criminal convictions.

A central square tower which extends to a height of 88 feet, and contains a massive 10-foot wide Syrian entryway arch.

[5] Behind the Administration Building, a corridor leads to the Rotunda, a semi-octagonal three-story structure measuring 75 by 75 foot, topped with a cupola.

When it was constructed, the roof of the Rotunda was the largest and heaviest in the Upper Peninsula, and the original supporting timber and trusswork are still intact.

Connected to the Rotunda is the one-story rectangular Cell Block B, which has arched windows along the sides and is five small cupolas used as air vents along the top.

The 1971 Brooks Center Hospital adjoins the Rotunda, and stands where the original Cell Block A was located.

Tompkins' first action was to get inmate tradesmen from the prison in Jackson, Michigan so they could start construction of additional buildings.

Women were also sentenced to MBP at this time and their work was in the kitchen, laundry room, hospital, and hosiery mill.

Ten days later, two other convicts escaped over the same fence by using a ladder they had made from scrap lumber found in the prison yard that was being used during construction of additional cell blocks.

On December 11, 1921, along with two other convicts (Jasper Perry and Charles Roberts), Gypsy Bob attacked Warden Catlin, Deputy Fred Menhennett, the deputy's son Arthur, and prison guard Charles Anderson in the prison movie theatre.

Harper was not flogged because he was acting insane (smashing his head on the floor) and eventually put in a straitjacket to avoid other personal harm.

They could not be legally punished again because that would be considered "double jeopardy" so the state of Michigan no longer had a case against Harper, Perry, and Roberts.

In April 1923, two fugitives, Steve Madaja and Russell Smith, escaped through the roof of the west wing and were never retrieved.

During days of swamp battle, Natchoff shot many rounds, killing one deputy, Frank Curran, and injuring another.

[3] On August 27, 1931, three convicts (Andrew Germano, Charles Rosbury, Martin Duver) from Detroit opened fire in the hospital.

The note read, "We have a bottle of explosives that will wreck this place, unless you give us a car and open the gates."

[3] On July 8, 1950, G. Mennen Williams, the Governor of Michigan, was attacked and briefly held hostage while visiting the prison, as part of an inmate escape plot.

[citation needed] There are six level-V housing units surrounded by a twenty-foot stone wall and 10 feet of metal fencing.