Little-known museum inside San Quentin’s walls documents prison’s unsettling history

A SMALL, UNASSUMING building within the harsh concrete gates and extensive security of San Quentin Rehabilitation Center is open to the public, filled with often unsettling artifacts from the history of California’s most infamous prison.

Associate warden Richard Nelson helped create the San Quentin Museum in 1993 while working at the prison. Located inside of San Quentin’s gates, the museum showcases exhibits spanning from the prison’s founding in 1852 through the 1940s.