Who Is Copper John?

Many people who live in, work in, or frequently visit Auburn don’t know Copper John. Yet there he stands looking over the city, Where is he? He is high above the city at the entrance to the prison, When going down State Street, pause near the entrance and look up and you will see him, a Revolutionary Soldier standing guard.

In fact, that is one of the things about Copper John. Anybody in Auburn can see his face except for one large group— prisoners within the walls of Auburn Correctional Facility. They cannot see his face, as he is gazing towards the outside and there is only a small open space between the administrative building and the outside wall.

He has stood guard at the top of the administrative building since 1821, although the original statue was wooden. It was in 1848 that a new soldier exactly like the original was created in the prison’s metal shop out of copper. This is where his nickname comes from and what he has been called ever since. Copper John is about 8’ 8 1/2” tall and with his rifle stands over 11’ in the air.

Copper John was refurbished in 2004. The corrections department decided to smooth out his physique. Let’s just leave it at he is now less endowed and more of a “Ken doll.”

The prison itself was built in 1817. This would be New York State’s second prison after Newgate in New York City. Massive blue and gray limestone walls face State Street, Wall Street, and Washington Street. The fourth side goes along the Owasco River and a little tiny street called Tehan Avenue.
The building of the prison brought about rock quarries and a water system in and around the growing city of Auburn.

The prison itself is a maximum-security prison and the original of “The Auburn System” of running prisons. Based on hard labor and silence at all times. Eventually, overcrowding in prisons made the silence unenforceable and things deteriorated into lax and corrupt routines by the guards. This system ended implementation in 1900. The stereotypical uniform of black and white stripes was developed under this system. Products produced in the shops were sold on the outside to help support the prison. Workshops of various kinds existed over the years. Perhaps the most well-known is one that continues to this day— producing license plates. At one time women were housed there as well in a separate building on the prison grounds.

Executions were done at Auburn prison. Do you know who “Old Sparky” is? That would be the nickname for the original electric chair. The first execution by electric chair was done in Auburn prison. A local bar has a chair that is said to be the original one.

It has been rumored that there was a choice between getting the prison and the Erie Canal in Auburn. Auburn chose to get the prison over having the Erie Canal come through the city. The path of the canal, however, does not support this story. It runs several miles north of Auburn through Weedsport and Port Byron. It would have had to have been diverted south to go through Auburn and would have added many miles of digging to do so.

Another rumor is that it was a choice between the prison and the state capital. Although possible, the state capital had long since been established at Albany by the time the first prisons were built in New York State. Would the state have gone to the trouble of moving the capital? I find that doubtful.