# @downinnadesert on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DdKwY5ZmrI0
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70299973-downinnadesert-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/2c40ae8ce7.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-12T01:00:22.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Down In The Desert🌵 (@downinnadesert) — https://gondola.cc/downinnadesert

## Caption

There is a high school in Arizona whose mascot is a criminal, and the story behind it starts with students actually going to school inside a prison.

Yuma Territorial Prison opened on July 1, 1876. The Arizona Territory budgeted $25,000 for the project, and prisoners themselves performed much of the construction, including building some of the cells they would eventually live in. 

Over the next 33 years, 3,069 prisoners passed through the prison, including 29 women. Crimes ranged from polygamy to murder. Famous stagecoach robber Pearl Hart was among the inmates. 

Despite its brutal desert location, the prison was surprisingly advanced for its time. It had amenities including electricity, sanitation and a library when many people living in Yuma still lacked them. Locals sarcastically referred to it as the “Country Club on the Colorado.” The prison also had the infamous Dark Cell for punishment. 

The prison closed in 1909 as inmates were transferred to the new prison in Florence.

Then the story got weird.

After Yuma High School’s original school building burned, students began attending classes inside the abandoned prison in 1910. Classes were held throughout the old prison facilities, and assemblies were held in the former prison hospital. 

Then came the nickname.

In 1913, Yuma traveled to Phoenix and defeated Phoenix Union. According to the prison’s history, the losing Phoenix side began calling the Yuma students “Criminals.” At first, Yuma students reportedly hated the name.

Eventually, they embraced it.

In 1917, the school board officially adopted “Criminals” as the school nickname, and more than a century later, it is still there. 

Today, Yuma High still sits at 400 S. 6th Avenue, its Criminal mascot still wears prison-inspired clothing, and its student store is called The Cell Block. 

In Yuma, calling the high school kids “Criminals” is literally school spirit.

Send us your Arizona stories to be featured on the page.

#Yuma #YumaCriminals #ArizonaHistory #ArizonaNews #DownInnaDesert

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## Tags

yumacriminals, downinnadesert, arizonahistory, yuma, arizonanews

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