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Light Cell

Small room with stone floor and walls with a door with bars on it.

Each guardhouse had an area set aside for light and dark cells. Dark cells were reserved for the worst offenders - soldiers who refused to obey orders, had delirium tremens, were riotous, or perhaps were mentally disturbed. Light cells had small openings in or above the doors to admit light and air. Dark cells had solid doors, and ventilation was provided by openings in the rear wall or by shafts. Cells were unheated and without sanitary facilities. Buckets served the latter purpose. Since like at Fort Scott, many guardhouses were built of stone, the cell areas were cold and damp. Although the surgeons at the garrisons around the country worried about the foul air, it was not until years after the Civil War that conditions improved for those in confinement.

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NPS/A. Schauer

Public domain:Full Granting Rights

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Fort Scott National Historic Site, Code: FOSC

Latitude: 37.8426722222222, Longitude: -94.7051472222222, Elevation: 256.79285813921

Fort Scott National Historic Site, Bourbon County, Kansas
Latitude: 37.8436012268066, Longitude: -94.7042999267578

NPS.gov Collection

06/17/2020

06/17/2020

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Thursday, June 18, 2020 8:23:03 AM

Friday, November 22, 2024 6:02:37 PM

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Scenic