July 1969:

Detroit/Ann Arbor activist John Sinclair had been set up by an undercover narcotics officer, pretending to be looking for some weed; Sinclair figured he'd help out by selling this person a couple of joints. Sinclair was arrested and sentenced to up to ten years in prison.

Later in 1969, after spending time in Jackson State Prison, John was moved to the Detroit House of Corrections, thanks to rumors he might be encouraging inmates to protest Jackson prison conditions. A few months later, he was moved back to Jackson.

Two years later, the Freedom Rally was held on Dec. 10, 1971 as one of the efforts to get Sinclair freed. Speakers, guests, and performers at this rally included John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Bob Seger, Stevie Wonder, Allen Ginsberg, Commander Cody and many others.

Three days later on December 13, Sinclair was released from prison.

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A facility where John Sinclair was incarcerated for six months is the actual subject here. The videographer below states that Sinclair was convicted and sent to the Detroit House of Correction for six months in 1966.

This facility was open for business beginning in 1861. About sixty years later in 1920, the facilities were used as a prison camp with a good number of inmates being bootleggers. In 1930, more buildings were constructed to house both men and women and in 1986 it became a women's facility. It closed for good in 2004 and was demolished in 2017.

The gallery below shows the crumbling condition of the prison pre-demolition and shows you some of the miserable little cells that inmates suffered in...including John Sinclair.

Abandoned (Now Demolished) Detroit House of Corrections

MORE ABANDONED MICHIGAN:

Abandoned Ranch/Mansion Near Howell

Abandoned Elderly Couple's House, Northern Michigan

Abandoned Sycamore Creek Bridge, Lansing

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