Why did old penitentiaries need little rocks made from bigger rocks?

Question

Why did old penitentiaries need little rocks made from bigger rocks?

Answer 1

it was sold very cheap to the railroads for track ballast .

Answer 2

Because they could not make penitentiaries out of mountains, so they quarried the mountains and got rocks.

Answer 3

Road gravel in many cases.

Answer 4

Most of the OLD prisons were made by the prisoners themselves. They quarried the rock locally and built it. Old Folsom, Eastern State are two that come to mind. After that most made road gravel, railroad ballast, and aggregate for concrete as a prison industry to make money.

Sometimes it was used a disciplinary action, you must break this rock(s) into this many smaller rocks. Then chain the prisoner to the rock until they were done.

I understand Levenworth DB still has the rockpile, not as punishment, mostly for tradition and it is a stress reliever for inmates.

Answer 5

That was before we had machines that can crush larger rocks down without breaking constantly... I work for a company that supplies parts to some rock plants in my area... Even with today's technology the machines still have a tendency to break.. and Us in sales could not be happier about companies that intentionally put rocks and dirt into a machine... lol

Answer 6

Most prisons in the US do not require inmates to break rocks. The prisons find ways for the inmates to work and manufacture products  that can be sold to off set budget costs of the facility. This also gives the inmates a way to productively serve their time, learn a trade, and ease the boredom of serving time.