Nevada Gas Chamber Chair

In 1924, Nevada became the first state to execute a criminal using lethal gas. Gee Jon, a 28-year-old Chinese immigrant and member of a Tong organized crime group in San Francisco, was the first man put to death in Nevada’s gas chamber, located in the state prison in Carson City.

When Nevada built a new gas chamber in 1951, two metal chairs were bolted to the floor. Each chair had slots and brackets through which leather straps were inserted to hold down the prisoner. Ten men met their end in this gas chamber between 1951 and 1979. The chairs were removed after 1983 and replaced with a gurney for lethal injections. One of those metal chairs is on loan from the Nevada State Museum in Carson City.