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.

[3] Plans for Minnesota's first prison were proposed by Governor Alexander Ramsey in 1849 and federal funds were secured the following year.

The initial phase of construction between 1851 and 1853 resulted in the main prison building, the outer walls, and the warden's house overlooking the complex from the bluff to the south.

In 1859 the prison began leasing penal labor, providing private businesses with property on site and convict workers.

[6] In 1890, in an attempt to reduce political favoritism in the contract labor system, the prison began its own manufacturing program.

[5] Warden Henry Wolfer also decried the conditions of the old prison, which by then was overcrowded, damp, poorly ventilated, and infested with cockroaches and bedbugs.

Fire departments from nearly a dozen cities responded, but flames were shooting over 100 feet (30 m) into the air and suppression efforts shifted to protecting nearby buildings such as the Warden's House.

[4] A few days later two men in their early 20s from Saint Paul came forward to say they and a friend had entered the vacant complex on the 3rd to explore and look for evidence of haunting.

Weyandt reportedly claimed on the ride back that he'd started a fire, but his friends assumed he was joking until they got home and saw the news on TV.