What is the oldest prison still active in the US?
New Jersey State Prison
The New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), formerly known as Trenton State Prison, is a state men's prison in Trenton, New Jersey operated by the New Jersey Department of Corrections. It is the oldest prison in New Jersey and one of the oldest correctional facilities in the United States. It is the state’s only completely maximum security institution, housing the most difficult and/or dangerous male offenders in the inmate population. NJSP operates two security units and provides a high level of custodial supervision and control. Professional treatment services, such as education and social work, are a priority at the facility. The Bureau of State Use Industries operated the bedding and clothing shops that were once located in Shop Hall at the facility. These industries have been relocated to South Woods State Prison.
Walnut Grove Correctional Facility
The 'Walnut Grove Correctional Facility', formerly the 'Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility' (WGYCF), was operated as a for-profit state-owned prison in Walnut Grove, Mississippi from 1996 to 2016. Constructed beginning in 1990, it was expanded in 2001 and later, holding male youth offenders. It had an eventual capacity of 1,469 prisoners, making it the largest juvenile facility in the country. Contracts for the facility's operations and services were among those investigated by the FBI in its lengthy investigation of state corruption known as Operation Mississippi Hustle.
Mississippi State Penitentiary
Mississippi State Penitentiary (MSP), also known as Parchman Farm, is a prison farm, the oldest prison, and the only maximum security prison for men in the state of Mississippi.
Old Pickens Jail
Old Pickens Jail, also known as Pickens Jail, is a historic jail located at Pickens, Pickens County, South Carolina. It was built in 1903, and is a two-story, brick building with a two-story crenellated tower. It was expanded in 1928 to provide additional space for the cellblock. The jail closed in August 1975, and has since been used as a historical museum and art gallery.
Eastern Correctional Facility
The Eastern Correctional Facility is a state prison for men in Napanoch, Ulster County, New York. Eastern is one of the oldest prison facilities in the state. It has been a maximum security prison for men since 1973.
Paul Geidel
Paul Geidel Jr. (April 21, 1894 – May 1, 1987) was the longest-serving prison inmate in the United States, whose sentence ended with his parole. After being convicted of second-degree murder in 1911, aged 17, Geidel served 68 years and 245 days in various New York state prisons. He was released on May 7, 1980, at the age of 86.
Virginia Department of Corrections
In 1796, a wave of reform swept the General Assembly of Virginia, and the famous British-American architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe, (1764-1820), (later Architect of the Capitol) was hired to design a penitentiary house for the newly formed Virginia Department of Welfare and Institutions. Latrobe's facility was constructed on a site outside of Richmond overlooking the James River. The facility, which received its first prisoners in 1800 and was completed (with using prison labor) in 1804, (earlier than the current oldest state prison in America, the still standing Eastern State Penitentiary (1829-1971) in Philadelphia and seven years before the neighboring Maryland Penitentiary (now Metropolitan Transitional Center and centerpiece of an extensive corrections complex) began in downtown Baltimore) was known by generations of Virginians as the "Virginia State Penitentiary" or "The Pen." The structure later burned and was torn down in 1905. A new facility was built and operated continuously afterwards until it too was demolished in 1992. In 1896, a penal farm operation (James River Correctional Center) was established in Goochland County for "miscreants and the infirm." This facility closed April 1, 2011, but the James River Work Center continues to operate in that same location today.
HM Prison Wakefield
Wakefield Prison was originally built as a house of correction in 1594. Most of the current prison buildings date from Victorian times. The current prison was designated a Dispersal prison in 1966 and is the oldest of the Dispersal prisons still operating across England and Wales.
Barnstable (village), Massachusetts
The Barnstable Comedy Club is the oldest and longest-running community theater in Massachusetts. The Trayser Museum is the former county custom house, which now houses a Coast Guard Heritage Museum. Also on the grounds of the museum is a jail, complete with inmates' graffiti. The jail dates back to 1690. Barnstable Village is also home to the Crocker Tavern, which was built around 1754 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Crocker Tavern served as a stagecoach stop, an inn, and an important meeting place into the mid-19th century. Cornelius Crocker, one of the wealthiest men on the Cape, was the first keeper of the tavern. Under the stewardship of Crocker, the inn became the central meeting place for American patriots including James Otis prior to, and during, the Revolutionary War.
The Clink
The Clink was a prison in Southwark, England, which operated from the 12th century until 1780. The prison served the Liberty of the Clink, a local manor area owned by the Bishop of Winchester rather than by the reigning monarch. As the Liberty owner, the Bishop kept all revenues from the Clink Liberty, and could put people in prison for failing to make their payments. As the Bishop, he could also imprison heretics. The Clink prison was situated next to the Bishop's London-area residence of Winchester Palace. The Clink was possibly the oldest men's prison and probably the oldest women's prison in England.
Lumpkin's Jail
Over the twenty years the Lumpkin Jail was in operation, it saw thousands of slaves come and go. The most famous inmate ever known to reside in Lumpkin's Jail was Anthony Burns. Burns had escaped slavery in Virginia, but was arrested in Boston and tried under the Fugitive Slave Law. Though many lobbied for his release, he was sent back to Lumpkin's Jail and held for four more months until abolitionists raised sufficient funds to buy his freedom. Once freed, he returned to the North and became a pastor, but died shortly thereafter at the age of 28.
Osborn Correctional Institution
Osborn Correctional Institution (OCI) is a state prison for men of the Connecticut Department of Correction located in Somers, Connecticut. It has capacity of 1900 inmates, making it amongst the largest prisons in the state and one of the oldest operational facilities in Connecticut.
Collins Bay Institution
Collins Bay Institution () is a multilevel correctional facility in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and falls under the supervision of Correctional Services of Canada. The facility was opened in 1930, and is now the oldest operational federal penitentiary in Ontario. The main prison is medium security, with a minimum security facility (formerly Frontenac Institution) residing on the same property. A 96-bed maximum security unit is also operational
St. Francois County Jail and Sheriff's Residence
St. Francois County Jail and Sheriff's Residence is a historic jail and sheriff's residence located at Farmington, St. Francois County, Missouri. It was built in 1870-1871, and is a two-story, three bay, Greek Revival style brick and limestone building. It has a front gable roof and centered arched front doorway. The building was enlarged slightly around 1909. By 1996, it was one of the oldest operating jails in Missouri, but it was retired in September of that year when the jail moved to a newer and larger facility. The building now serves as a low-cost inn for people traveling along the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail.
Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Framingham
The prison opened in 1877 and was the second prison for women opened in the U.S. Several references note it as the oldest female correctional institution (of those still in operation) in the United States. Its original name was the Sherborn Reformatory for Women, because at the time of its establishment it was located in that town. In 1924, the town of Framingham acquired 565 acres in Sherborn, including the prison and its grounds.
West Virginia Penitentiary
The West Virginia Penitentiary is a gothic-style prison located in Moundsville, West Virginia. Now withdrawn and retired from prison use, it operated from 1876 to 1995. Currently, the site is maintained as a tourist attraction and training facility.
American Correctional Association
The American Correctional Association (ACA; called the National Prison Association before 1954) is a private, non-profit, non-governmental trade association and accrediting body for the corrections industry, the oldest and largest such association in the world. The organization was founded in 1870 and has a significant place in the history of prison reform in the U.S.
Old Huntington Jail
The Old Huntington Jail is a historic jail at 223 East Broadway in Huntington, Arkansas. It is a single-story stone structure, fashioned out of courses of cut stone. It was built in 1888 by the Kansas and Texas Coal Company, a mining concern that platted and founded Huntington in 1887. The interior has a central access space with two small cells on the right, and one large one on the left. The jail was in active use into the mid-1950s, and is now part of a local history museum.
Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility
The Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility was in essence a prison for youth located on Whittier Boulevard, in Whittier, California. Operated by the California Youth Authority, now part of California Department of Corrections, it once quartered young people incarcerated for law-breaking until it was closed by the state of CA in June 2004. Open for 113 years, it had been the oldest juvenile facility in the state, and became registered as California Historical Landmark #947. It was closed because of the reduction in the number of juveniles being housed.
Barnstable County Jail and House of Correction
The Barnstable County Jail and House of Correction is the former county jail for Barnstable County. It was opened in the 1930s as a replacement for the second Barnstable Jail, which was constructed in 1821, itself a replacement for the Old Jail, the oldest wooden jail in America. During the 1990s the prison became overcrowded as Cape Cod's population increased during the housing boom. Construction began on a modern facility and in October, 2004 the last prisoners were transferred to the new Barnstable County Correctional Facility.
Angola Prison Rodeo
The Angola Prison Rodeo, staged at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, is the longest running prison rodeo in the United States.
Texas Prison Museum
The non-profit museum features the history of the prison system in Texas (Huntsville is the home of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and several prisons including the Ellis Unit which previously housed death row, and Huntsville Unit which houses the execution chamber). There are many different artifacts in the museum, including an electric chair named "Old Sparky" that was formerly used from 1924 to 1964 as the primary means of execution.
Thomas Silverstein
Thomas Edward Silverstein (born February 4, 1952) is an American convicted murderer. He has been incarcerated continuously since 1977 and has been convicted of four separate murders while imprisoned, one of which was overturned. He has been in solitary confinement since 1983, when he killed Corrections Officer Merle Clutts at the Marion Penitentiary in Illinois. Prison authorities describe him as a brutal killer and a former leader of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang. Silverstein maintains that the dehumanizing conditions inside the prison system contributed to the three murders he committed. He was held "in a specially designed cell" in what is called "Range 13" at ADX Florence federal penitentiary in Colorado. He is currently the longest-held prisoner in solitary confinement within the Bureau of Prisons.
Alton Military Prison
The Alton Military Prison was a prison located in Alton, Illinois and originally built in 1833 as the first state penitentiary in Illinois and later closed in 1857. During the American Civil War, the prison was reopened in 1862 to accommodate the growing population of Confederate prisoners of war and ceased to be prison at the end of the war in 1865. The prison building was demolished not long after the Civil War. All that remains of the former prison site is a section of ruin wall that is maintained by the State of Illinois as an historic site. The prison site is included in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Old Idaho State Penitentiary
The Old Idaho Penitentiary State Historic Site was a functional prison from 1872 to 1973 in the western United States, east of Boise, Idaho. The first building, also known as the Territorial Prison, was constructed in the Territory of Idaho in 1870; the territory was seven years old when the prison was built, a full two decades before statehood.
Pontiac Correctional Center
Pontiac Correctional Center, established in June 1871, is an Illinois Department of Corrections maximum security prison (Level 1) for adult males in Pontiac, Illinois. The prison also has a medium security unit that houses medium to minimum security inmates and is classified as Level 3. Until the 2011 abolition of the death penalty in Illinois, the prison housed male death row inmates, but had no execution chamber. Inmates were executed at the Tamms Correctional Center. Although the capacity of the prison is 2172 it has an average daily population of approximately 2000 inmates.
Penal labor in the United States
Responsible for the largest prison population in the United States (over 140,000 inmates) the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is known for being one of the most profitable prison systems in the country on part to their prison labor system. Prisoners do a variety of labor and tasks from raising, processing, and harvesting meat and vegetables to manufacturing soap and clothing items. The inmates receive no monetary salary or compensation for their labor and receive other rewards in time credits, which could work towards cutting down a prison sentence and allow for early release under mandatory supervision. Prisoners are allotted to work up to 12 hours per day. The penal labor system, managed by Texas Correctional Industries, were valued at US$88.9 million in 2014. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice states that the prisoner's free labor pays for room and board while the work they perform in prison equips inmates with the skills and experience necessary to gain and maintain employment after they are released. Texas is one of the 4 states in the United States that does not pay inmates for their labor in monetary funds, with the other states being Georgia, Arkansas, and Alabama.
Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary
The main cellhouse was originally the location of the cellhouse for the military citadel and prison which existed on Alcatraz from the 1860s. A new cellhouse was built in 1910–1912 on a budget of $250,000 and upon completion, the long concrete building was reputedly the longest concrete building in the world at the time. In 1933–34 this building remained, but was modernized and became the main cellhouse of the federal penitentiary until it was closed in 1963. When the new concrete prison was built, many materials were reused in its construction. Iron staircases in the interior and the cellhouse door near the barber's shop at the end of A-block were retained from the old citadel and massive granite blocks originally used as gun mounts were reused as the wharf's bulkheads and retaining walls. Many of the old cell bars were used to reinforce the walls, causing structural problems later due to the fact that many placed near the edge were subject to erosion from the salt air and wind over the years.
Life imprisonment in the United States
As a result, the US is now housing by far the world's largest and most permanent population of prisoners who are guaranteed to die of old age behind bars. At the Louisiana State Penitentiary, for instance, more than 3,000 of the 5,100 prisoners are serving life with a chance of parole, and most of the remaining 2,100 are serving sentences so long that they cannot be completed in a typical lifetime. About 150 inmates have died there in the last five years. An article for "QZ" reported that 35% of all the world's prison lifers are in the US.
List of the oldest courthouses in the United States
The following other old courthouses still standing today exist as museums, for other government functions, or are now privately owned facilities.
Florida State Prison
Florida State Prison (FSP), otherwise known as Raiford Prison, is a correctional institution located in unincorporated Bradford County, Florida.. It was formerly known as the "Florida State Prison-East Unit" as it was originally part of Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida (now known as Union Correctional Institution). The facility, a part of the Florida Department of Corrections, is located on State Road 16 right across the border from Union County. The institution opened in 1961, even though construction was not completed until 1968. With a maximum population of over 1,400 inmates, FSP is one of the largest prisons in the state. FSP houses one of the state's three death row cell blocks, and the state's execution chamber. Union Correctional Institution also houses male death row inmates while Lowell Annex houses female death row inmates.
Eastern State Penitentiary
The Eastern State Penitentiary, also known as ESP, is a former American prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located at 2027 Fairmount Avenue between Corinthian Avenue and North 22nd Street in the Fairmount section of the city, and was operational from 1829 until 1971. The penitentiary refined the revolutionary system of separate incarceration first pioneered at the Walnut Street Jail which emphasized principles of reform rather than punishment.
Caledonia State Prison Farm
Caledonia State Prison Farm is a minimum/medium security prison in North Carolina, United States. The oldest state prison in North Carolina, it has operated from 1892 to the present. It is located in Halifax County, on approximately 7,500 acres that was purchased by the state in 1899.
Clinton Correctional Facility
Clinton Correctional Facility is a New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision maximum security state prison for men located in the Village of Dannemora, New York. The prison itself is sometimes colloquially referred to as Dannemora, although its actual name is derived from its location in Clinton County, New York. The southern perimeter wall of the prison borders New York State Route 374. Church of St. Dismas, the Good Thief, a church built by inmates, is located within the walls. The prison is sometimes referred to as New York's Little Siberia due to the cold climate in Dannemora and the isolation of the area. It is the largest maximum security prison and the third oldest prison in New York. The staff includes about a thousand guards.
Washington Corrections Center
Washington Corrections Center was opened in 1964, making it the 5th oldest prison in Washington state. all prisoners entering the Washington State Prison System must pass through Washington Corrections Center in order to be permanently assigned to another prison. In 2014, two prisoners at Washington Corrections Center committed successful suicides, leading the Washington State Department of Corrections to reform their official policy on suicides. In September, 2015 Washington Corrections Center became the second prison (after Snake River Correctional Institution in Oregon) to install a "Blueroom" inside of solitary confinement to play nature videos for prisoners.
History of United States prison systems
Prisons played an essential role in the convict trade. Some ancient prisons, like the Fleet and Newgate, still remained in use during the high period of the American prisoner trade in the eighteenth century. But more typically an old house, medieval dungeon space, or private structure would act as a holding pen for those bound for American plantations or the Royal Navy (under impressment). Operating clandestine prisons in major port cities for detainees whose transportation to the New World was not strictly legal, became a lucrative trade on both sides of the Atlantic in this period. Unlike contemporary prisons, those associated with the convict trade served a custodial, not a punitive function.
Menard Correctional Center
Menard Correctional Center opened in March 1878; it's the second oldest operating prison in Illinois, and, by a large margin, the state's largest prison. Menard once housed death row; however, on January 10, 2003 the Condemned Unit closed when former Governor George Ryan granted clemency to all Illinois death row inmates. It is a part of the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Salem, Massachusetts
The Old Salem Jail, an active correctional facility until 1991, once housed captured British soldiers from the War of 1812. It contains the main jail building (built in 1813, renovated in 1884), the jail keeper's house (1813) and a barn (also about 1813). The jail was shuttered in 1991 when Essex County opened its new facility in Middleton. In 2010, a $12 million renovation was completed. One feature of the reconstruction is the jail keeper's house, a three-story brick, Federal-period building originally built in 1813. The project went into a long phase of stagnation when in 1999 the county government was dissolved, resulting in the sale of Salem Jail by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to the City of Salem for $1. The Old Salem Jail complex was renamed 50 Saint Peter Street and is now private property, with private residences.
Salem Willows is an oceanfront neighborhood and amusement park. It is named for the European white willow trees planted there in 1801 to form a shaded walk for patients convalescing at a nearby smallpox hospital. The area became a public park in 1858, and in the twentieth century became a summer destination for residents of Boston's North Shore, many of whom escaped the heat of the city on newly popular streetcars. The beaches are also a common place to watch the 4th of July fireworks since you can see three sets of fireworks; Salem, Beverly, and Marblehead. The Willows also has a famous popcorn stand, Hobbs, which is known around the North Shore as one of the best places to get popcorn and ice cream.
Missouri State Penitentiary
The Missouri State Penitentiary was a prison in Jefferson City, Missouri, that operated from 1836 to 2004. Part of the Missouri Department of Corrections, it served as the state of Missouri's primary maximum security institution. Before it closed, it was the oldest operating penal facility west of the Mississippi River. It was replaced by the Jefferson City Correctional Center, which opened on September 15, 2004.
Waldheim prison
Waldheim Prison in Waldheim, Saxony , about 30 km north of Chemnitz, was once the largest penitentiary in Saxony and is the oldest prison still in operation in Germany. It was opened in April 1716 under Augustus II the Strong. There are now 395 places for men.
Old Newgate Prison
In 1790 it became a state prison, the first such in America. Most of the above-ground facilities present today were built between then and 1802. These include the main prison wall, and five brick-and-masonry buildings, all of which now stand in ruins. In 1827, the remaining prisoners were transferred to the new, "state-of-the-art" Wethersfield State Prison. Attempts were made to reactivate the mines in the 1830s and 1850s, but these ventures failed. The site has been considered a tourist attraction since the 1860s. Nearby Peak Mountain offers a bird's eye view of Old Newgate Prison from the Metacomet Trail.
Mohawk Correctional Facility
Mohawk Correctional Facility is a state prison for men in Rome, Oneida County, New York, owned and operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. The facility is classified as medium security but also has a maximum security unit and a special housing unit. Mohawk held 1167 inmates (as of 2011) and first opened in 1988.
Harris County Jail
The 701 Jail (located at 701 North San Jacinto Street) is one of the largest detention facilities in the United States. The seven floor 701 Jail has 4,144 inmate beds. The 701 Jail, originally a five-story building to be used as a cold storage warehouse, opened in the late 1920s. The Houston Terminal Warehouse and Cold Storage Facility was constantly occupied throughout its history. In 1989 the county completed the planning and design stage of its new jail. The cold storage portion was allowed to thaw, and construction on the facility began in December of that year. The facility was gutted and two floors were added. The 701 Jail opened in August 1991. Harris County stated that the re-use of the warehouse saved the county about $21,000,000. About 600 sheriff's deputies and detention officers work in the facility. The county designates the 701 Jail as a "Direct Observation" facility, where staff members monitor inmates continuously for 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. In 2002 the 701 Jail was the second largest American jail, with the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department being the largest.
2018 U.S. Prison Strike
The 2018 U.S. Prison Strike was a series of work stoppages and hunger strikes in prisons across the United States that began on August 21 and ended on September 9. The strike was conducted at least in part in response to the April 2018 prison riot at Lee Correctional Institution, which killed seven inmates and was the deadliest prison riot in the U.S. in the past 25 years.
United States Penitentiary, Atlanta
Construction was completed in January 1902 and the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary opened with the transfer of six convicts from the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in upstate New York. They were the beneficiaries of the Three Prisons Act of 1891, which established penitentiaries in Leavenworth, Kansas; Atlanta, Georgia; and McNeil Island, Washington. The first two remain open today, the third closed in 1976. The Atlanta site was the largest Federal prison, with a capacity of 3,000 inmates. Inmate case files presented mini-biographies of men confined in the penitentiary. Prison officials recorded every detail of their lives - their medical treatments, their visitors, their letters to and from the outside world
Georgia State Prison
Georgia State Prison is the main maximum security facility in the US state of Georgia for the Georgia Department of Corrections. First opened in 1938, the prison has housed some of some of the most dangerous inmates in the state's history, and it was the site of Georgia's death row until 1980.
United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth
USP Leavenworth, a civilian facility, is the oldest of three major prisons built on federal land in Leavenworth County, Kansas. It is separate from, but often confused with, the United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB), a military facility located on the adjacent Fort Leavenworth army base. Located north of the USP, the USDB is the sole maximum-security penal facility for the entire United States Military. Prisoners from the original USDB were used to build the civilian penitentiary. In addition, the military's medium-security Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility (JRCF), located southwest of the new USDB, opened in 2010. The USDB and JRCF operate independently from USP Leavenworth.
Berrima Correctional Centre
The Berrima Correctional Centre is an Australian prison, located at Berrima, New South Wales. The Centre was operational between 1839 and 2011 with a number of breaks in between, and was re-opened in September 2016. Initially established as Berrima Gaol, the facility closed in 1909 and reopened in 1949 as the Berrima Training Centre. At the time of its closure, the Centre was the oldest Australian correctional facility in operation. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Union Correctional Institution
First opened in 1913, the prison expanded and restructured many times. State Prison Farm was well known as one of the last prisons in the United States to abolish the practice of convict leasing in 1923. In 1955 the first buildings of the East Unit were established, across the Bradford county line to the south. In July 1972, the East Unit became the new Florida State Prison, and the old prison was redesignated as Union Correctional Facility.
Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater
The Minnesota Correction Facility – Stillwater (MCF-STW) is a close custody (level 4) state prison for men in Bayport, Minnesota, United States. Built 1910–1914, it houses 1,600 inmates in seven different living areas. Additionally, approximately 100 inmates are housed in a nearby minimum security area. It replaced the original Minnesota Territorial Prison located just to the north in the city of Stillwater, Minnesota. Until recent expansion of the medium custody (level 3) Minnesota Correctional Facility – Faribault, MCF-STW was the state's largest facility by inmate population. A historic district consisting of 22 contributing properties was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as the State Prison Historic District for having state-level significance in architecture. It was nominated for being one of the nation's earliest and most influential appearances of the "telephone pole" layout, with a large main hallway connecting each of the units, that was widely adopted by high-security prisons. MCF-STW is noted for its award-winning publication "The Prison Mirror", the oldest continuously-operated prison newspaper in the United States.
Allen County Jail
The Old Allen County Jail is a former jail in Iola, Kansas, United States. Built in the late 1860s, it operated as a detention facility for nearly a century before a replacement opened; today, it is the Old Jail Museum, operated by the Allen County Historical Society, and it has been designated a historic site.
Debtors' Prison (Accomac, Virginia)
The Accomac debtors' prison is significant for a number of reasons; chief among them is that it is the oldest municipal building still standing in Accomack County. In addition, it is a rare survivor of its type, and well illustrates the typical eighteenth-century penal building once common in Virginia.
Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater
"The Prison Mirror" celebrated its 125th anniversary in August 2012. It was founded in 1887 with the warden's permission using funds from prisoners including the Younger Brothers, members of the James–Younger Gang, and is believed to be the oldest continuously published prison newspaper in the United States. It has been named the best prison newspaper in the United States several times, winning the Charles C. Clayton award in 1969 and 1987 from the University of Illinois – Carbondale, and a similar award from Amicus in 1985. Topically the newspaper has a tight focus on life in the prison, covering sports such as broom hockey, basketball and dodge-ball, educational pursuits and achievements of the prisoners, notable visitors and available support programs, and other matters. A regular column called "Ask the Warden" presents questions and requests to the warden. Comings and goings of staff members are often noted. Most issues feature poetry and art work produced by the prisoners. In-depth features included an interview with several 'lifers' including Harvey Carignan, an examination of Minnesota's prison commissary prices and the supplier MINNCOR, and a cover story about the aging population of America's prisons.
Priscilla Beach, Massachusetts
Priscilla Beach Theatre, founded by Dr. Franklin Trask in 1937, it is the oldest barn theatre still in operation in the United States, and is located in Priscilla Beach.
Burlington County Prison
The Burlington County Prison operated from 1811 through 1965 in Mount Holly Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. It was designed with prisoner rehabilitation in mind. The motto over the door, "Justice Which, While it Punishes, Would Endeavor to Reform the Offender", was chosen by architect Robert Mills. The Burlington County Prison operated from 1811 through 1965. When it closed in 1965, it was the oldest operating prison in the United States.
It is reportedly haunted by a tall male in a uniform in the basement, and the third floor is claimed to have a flurry of paranormal activity.
It is currently a museum.
List of United States federal prisons
Most United States Penitentiaries (USPs) are high-security facilities, which have highly secured perimeters with walls or reinforced fences, multiple and single-occupant cell housing, the highest staff-to-inmate ratio, and close control of inmate movement. The most notable facility in the federal prison system is Florence ADX, the federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, which holds inmates who are considered the most dangerous and in need of the tightest controls. USP Atlanta, USP Leavenworth, USP Lompoc, and USP Marion are medium-security facilities. USP Hazelton is in the process of adding a medium-security facility to its existing high-security unit. USP Marion contains a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit, which holds inmates under stricter controls. Many USPs include minimum-security satellite camps on the same property and under the same administration as the higher-security unit(s).
Twin Rivers Corrections Center
The Twin Rivers Corrections Center opened in 1984 and is part of the Monroe Correctional Complex facility in Monroe, Washington. Currently, it is the largest prison in all of Washington State. It is now referred to as Twin Rivers Unit (TRU). It currently employs 1200 people. Monroe Correctional Complex is a Close, Medium, and Minimum security facility, which houses approximately 2800 inmates in five wings, typically two to a cell. Some inmates with special needs are housed in individual cells. Inmates are generally required to participate in some kind of program, whether it is educational, treatment, or Class III industries. Such programs may include earning a General Educational Development (GED) certificate, or sexual offender or chemical dependency treatment. Class III industries include janitorial, clerical or kitchen work, for example.
Overton Lodge
Overton Lodge was one of the few Lodges in the State to remain active during each year of the American Civil War, and it is by virtue of this distinction that Overton may claim to be the oldest, continuously-operated lodge in the State: all four of the older Lodges, including the currently extant Greeneville Lodge No. 3, had their charters revoked or have since gone defunct.
Kentucky State Penitentiary
The Kentucky State Penitentiary (KSP), also known as the "castle on the Cumberland," is a maximum security and supermax prison with capacity for 856 prisoners located in Eddyville, Kentucky on Lake Barkley on the Cumberland River, about from downtown Eddyville. It is managed by the Kentucky Department of Corrections. Completed in 1886, it is Kentucky's oldest prison facility and the only commonwealth-owned facility with supermax units. The penitentiary houses Kentucky's male death row inmates and the commonwealth's execution facility. it had approximately 350 staff members and an annual operating budget of 20 million dollars. In most cases, inmates are not sent directly to the penitentiary after sentencing, but are sent there because of violent or disruptive behavior committed in other less secure correctional facilities in the commonwealth.
Huntsville Unit
Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville or Huntsville Unit (HV), nicknamed "Walls Unit", is a Texas state prison located in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The approximately facility, near Downtown Huntsville, is operated by the Correctional Institutions Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), administered as within Region I. The facility, the oldest Texas state prison, opened in 1849.
Harris County Sheriff's Office
The 701 Jail (located at 701 North San Jacinto Street) is one of the largest detention facilities in the United States. The seven floor 701 Jail has 4,144 inmate beds. The 701 Jail, originally a five-story building to be used as a cold storage warehouse, opened in the late 1920s. The Houston Terminal Warehouse and Cold Storage Facility was constantly occupied throughout its history. In 1989 the county completed the planning and design stage of its new jail. The cold storage portion was allowed to thaw, and construction on the facility began in December of that year. The facility was gutted and two floors were added. The 701 Jail opened in August 1991. Harris County stated that the re-use of the warehouse saved the county about $21,000,000. About 600 sheriff's deputies and detention officers work in the facility. The county designates the 701 Jail as a "Direct Observation" facility, where staff members monitor inmates continuously for 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. In 2002 the 701 Jail was the second largest American jail, with the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department being the largest.
San Quentin State Prison
Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the oldest prison in California. The state's only death row for male inmates, the largest in the United States, is located at the prison. It has a gas chamber, but since 1996, executions at the prison have been carried out by lethal injection, though the prison has not performed an execution since 2006. The prison has been featured on film, radio drama, video, and television; is the subject of many books; has hosted concerts; and has housed many notorious inmates.
New Jersey State Prison
The second oldest portion of New Jersey State Prison, the Fortress Penitentiary, was constructed between 1832 and 1836, when the inmates from the Penitentiary House next door were moved over. The 1832 facility was constructed on a contiguous plot of land already owned by the State and controlled by the Penitentiary House, under the supervision of the Keeper of the State Prison, and made use of inmate labor during the four years of construction. Consequently, the 1836 Fortress Penitentiary compound is considered to be an addition to the existing State Prison on the property. This assertion is valid because the two compounds coexisted on the same property and were managed and controlled by the Keeper as a prison complex in which the same inmate population worked and were housed. As the State Prison is operated as a unified complex composed of separate distinct compounds today, this conclusion is defensible.
Green Haven Correctional Facility
Green Haven Correctional Facility is a maximum security prison in New York. The prison is located in the Town of Beekman in Dutchess County. The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision lists the address as Route 216, Stormville, NY 12582. This prison housed New York's execution chamber during the time the state briefly had the death penalty (but never used it) in the post-"Furman" era. New York's electric chair "Old Sparky" was moved here from Sing Sing Correctional Facility. It was originally a federal prison and now houses maximum security inmates. Green Haven Correctional Facility also operates a Hot Kosher Food Program; because of this, the prison has a large Jewish population. Yale Law School operates the Green Haven Prison Project, a series of seminars among Yale law students and Green Haven inmates on law and policy issues concerning prisons and criminal law.There have been at least two deaths of correction officers in the line of duty.
Nebraska State Penitentiary
The Nebraska State Penitentiary (NSP) is a state correctional facility for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Located in Lincoln, it is the oldest state correctional facility in Nebraska, opening in 1869. Until after World War I, it was the only adult correctional facility in the state.
Columbia, Alabama
Erected sometime in the early 1860s, the Old Columbia Jail is today one of the last wooden jails still standing in Alabama. Originally, there were two cells, each measuring 10x15 feet. Interior walls are studded every two inches with iron spikes to prevent prisoners from being able to escape. The Columbia Women's Club and the Columbia Bicentennial Committee have completely renovated the building for use as a museum to preserve some of the articles of historical interest to Columbia citizens.
Bledsoe County Jail
The original building was a brick building with a stone foundation that was completed in 1851. It had a capacity of five prisoners. Renovations made around 1880 included installation of wooden doors, windows, a stairway, and wood floors. The building was expanded with a new stone exterior in 1937. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, when it was still in active use as Bledsoe County's jail, making it the oldest operating jail in Tennessee. At the time of its National Register listing, it had two stories and held up to nine prisoners.
John Franzese
John "Sonny" Franzese, Sr. (born February 6, 1917) is a powerful Italian-American mobster who is a longtime member of the Colombo crime family. Franzese's career in organized crime spans over six decades and he served as underboss of the Colombo crime family. At the time of his release on June 23, 2017, he was the oldest federal prisoner in the United States and the only centenarian in federal custody. Franzese is currently the oldest living gangster in the world. Arguably, Franzese has been famous as the current oldest member of the American Mafia. Franzese is listed as an associate producer of the 2002 film "This Thing of Ours", which stars James Caan. He also helped finance the $22,000 pornographic film "Deep Throat" which generated $30–50 million dollars, and "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", a horror film which earned over $30 million from a $300,000 investment.
Gloucester Marine Railways
Gloucester Marine Railways (established 1859) is one of the oldest continuously operated shipyards in the U.S. And is located on the northern tip of Rocky Neck in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Indiana Women's Prison
The Indiana Women's Prison was established in 1873 as the first adult female correctional facility in the country. The original location of the prison was one mile (1.6 km) east of downtown Indianapolis. It has since moved to 2596 Girls School Road, former location of the Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility. it had an average daily population of 420 inmates, most of whom are members of special-needs populations, such as geriatric, mentally ill, pregnant, and juveniles sentenced as adults. By the end of 2015 the population increased to 599 inmates. Security levels range from medium to maximum. The prison holds Indiana's only death row for women; however, it currently has no death row inmates. The one woman under an Indiana death sentence, Debra Denise Brown, was being held in Ohio. before she was executed in 2002
Prison nursery
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women, a maximum security women’s prison in New York, has the oldest prison nursery in the United States. The prison nursery opened in 1901. A child is permitted to stay at Bedford Hills with its mother until 1 year of age; however, there are possible exceptions if the mother’s release date is within the next 6 months. Mothers at Bedford Hills must also participate in parental classes taught by qualified inmates. The prison also provides vocational services for mothers, in addition to providing comprehensive visiting services for the older children of incarcerated mothers including daily visiting hours and a special children's visiting room.
Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center
Currently the only barge in use, the Vernon C. Bain Center is the third prison barge that the New York Department of Corrections has used. In its history, the prison has served traditional inmates, juvenile inmates and is currently used as a holding and temporary processing center. The added security of the prison being on water has prevented at least four attempted escapes. The barge is named in memorial for warden Vernon C. Bain who died in an automobile accident. In 2014, the prison barge was named the world's largest prison barge in operation by the Guinness World Records.
Blegdamsvej Prison
Blegdamsvej Prison (Danish: Blegdamsvejens Fængsel) is a prison operated by Københavns Flngsler on Blegdamsvej in the Nørrebro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. Established in 1848, it is the oldest prison building still in use in Denmark.
Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site
The Wyoming Territorial Prison is a former federal government prison near Laramie, Wyoming. Built in 1872 it is one of the oldest buildings in Wyoming. It operated as a federal penitentiary from 1872 to 1890, and as a state prison from 1890 to 1901. It was then transferred to the University of Wyoming and was used as an agricultural experiment station until 1989. In 1991 the facility was opened to the public, and in 2004 was designated as Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site.
Paul Geidel
On May 7, 1980, Geidel left Fishkill, having served the longest prison sentence in United States history. "No publicity please," Geidel said with a smile to reporters as he was leaving the facility. He is believed to have lived out the remainder of his days in a Beacon, Dutchess County nursing home, before dying aged 93.
Prison–industrial complex
In January 1983, the Corrections Corporations of America (CCA) was founded by Nashville businessmen and would grow to become one of the oldest and largest for-profit private prison companies in America, laying the groundwork for a transformation in layout of corrections facilities across the country. The 58 was established with the goal of creating public-private partnerships in corrections by substituting government shortcomings with more efficient solutions. The first facility managed by CCA opened in April 1984 in Houston, Texas. As of 2012, the multibillion-dollar corporation, now known as CoreCivic, manages over 65 correctional facilities and boasts of a revenue exceeding over 1.7 billion dollars.
Old York Gaol
The Old York Gaol is a former colonial prison at Lindsay Road and Main Street (United States Route 1A) in York, Maine. Its oldest portion dating to about 1720, it is one of the oldest prison buildings in the United States, and one of the oldest public buildings in the state of Maine. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968. It is owned by the Museums of Old York and is open for tours between May and October.
Washington State Penitentiary
Washington State Penitentiary (also called the Walla Walla State Penitentiary) is a Washington State Department of Corrections men's prison located in Walla Walla, Washington. With an operating capacity of 2,200, it is the second largest prison in the state (after Coyote Ridge Corrections Center) and is surrounded by wheat fields. It opened in 1886, three years before statehood.
New Bedford, Massachusetts
The Ash Street Jail, which houses inmates from Bristol County, is located in New Bedford. It opened in 1829 and is the oldest continuously operating jail in the United States.
Prison ship
In the United States, the Vernon C. Bain Correctional Center is a prison barge operated by the New York City Department of Correction as an adjunct to Rikers Island, opened in 1992. However, it was built for this purpose rather than repurposed. It is the largest operational prison ship facility in the United States currently in operation.
Anqing Prison
Anqing Prison is a prison in Daguan, Anhui, China. It was established in 1906 and is the oldest prison still in use in the province. During the late Qing Dynasty it was known as "Anqing Criminal Training Center." During the Republic of China period it was called Yinmatang Prison. In May 1949, it was renamed North Anhui Anqing Administrative Area Prison. In June 1952 it was changed to Anqing public security office LRD (labor reform detachment). In June 1955 it was renamed No.2 Prison. In 1995 it was renamed to Anhui Anqing prison. 
The prison houses serious offenders. The prison enterprise consists of Anqing Wanjiang Color Weaving Company which includes a colored woven cloth factory, a garment factory, a machinery factory, and Qingfeng Plastics Factory. The prison mainly does machinery and garment processing.
Beekman Arms Inn
The Beekman Arms Inn—formerly known as the Traphagen Tavern, Bogardus Tavern and Potter’s Tavern, and currently known as the Beekman Arms and Delamater Inn—is an historic inn located in the village of Rhinebeck, New York. It is within the Rhinebeck Village Historic District, a historic district added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 as a cohesive area of preserved historic buildings. The inn claims to be America's oldest continuously operated hotel.
Northwest Seaport
The tugboat "Arthur Foss", built in 1889, is the oldest wooden-hulled tugboat afloat in the United States. In 1898, in response to the Klondike Gold Rush, she transported barges full of gold-seeking miners and supplies up the Inside Passage to Alaska. There are no other Alaska gold rush vessels still operating today. She was cast by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie studio to play in its 1933 production "Tugboat Annie". In World War II, "Arthur Foss" journeyed south to join the war effort. Before the Battle of Wake Island began in December 1941, she was the last vessel to escape. After the war she was used in the timber industry until retirement in 1968.
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard was established on June 12, 1800 during the administration of President John Adams, and is the U.S. Navy's oldest continuously operating shipyard. It sits on a cluster of conjoined islands called Seavey's Island in the Piscataqua River, whose swift tidal current prevents ice from blocking navigation to the Atlantic Ocean.
Michigan State Prison
Cell Block 7 is the only prison exhibit within the wall of an operating penitentiary. Cell Block 7 was a part of the newly renovated prison completed in 1934. The prison was the largest walled institution in the world, housing over 5,000 inmates, with five floors of prison bars and a total of 515 cells. Cell Block 7 was a part of the operation until its closure in 2007. Today Cell Block Seven serves to educate the community of past historical events as well as serving a crime prevention tool.
Wynne Unit
The John M. Wynne Unit (WY) is a men's prison of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, located in northern Huntsville, Texas, at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 2821 West and Texas State Highway 75 North. The Windham School District has its headquarters in the unit. Wynne, the second oldest prison in Texas, was named after John Magruder Wynne, who served as a prison employee and later as a board member of the prison system from 1878 to 1881. The unit, on a plot of land, is co-located with the Holliday Unit.
United States Penitentiary, Pollock
The United States Penitentiary, Pollock (USP Pollock) is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Louisiana. It is part of the Pollock Federal Correctional Complex (FCC Pollock) and operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp for minimum-security male offenders.
Northwest Detention Center
Northwest Detention Center is a private immigration prison located on the tide flats of the Port of Tacoma in Tacoma, Washington, USA. The prison is operated by the GEO Group on behalf of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The NWDC's current capacity is 1575, making it one of the largest immigration prisons in the United States. CCA and GEO get about 50 percent of all their revenue from the federal government; only 11 percent of their revenue comes from the Bureau of Prisons.
Walnut Street Theatre
The Walnut Street Theatre, at 825 Walnut Street on the corner of S. 9th Street in the Washington Square West neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is said to be the oldest continuously operating theatre in the English-speaking world and the oldest in the United States. The venue is operated by the Walnut Street Theatre Company, a non-profit organization, and has three stages: the Mainstage, for the company's primary and larger productions, the Independence Studio on 3, a studio located on the building's third floor for smaller productions, and the Studio 5 on the fifth floor, which is rented out for independent productions. The company wants to build a theatre-in-the-round next door, where the parking lot currently is.
HM Prison Maidstone
Maidstone Prison is one of the oldest penal institutions in the United Kingdom, having been in operation for over 200 years.
Kingston Penitentiary
Constructed in 1833–34, and opened on June 1, 1835 as the "Provincial Penitentiary of the Province of Upper Canada", it was one of the oldest prisons in continuous use in the world at the time of its closure. Kingston Penitentiary was one of nine prisons in the Kingston area which range from low-security facilities to the maximum-security facilities Kingston Penitentiary and Millhaven Institution (which was initially built to replace Kingston Pen).
Alcatraz Citadel
Alcatraz Citadel, also known as Fort Alcatraz, California, United States. The citadel was built in 1859 as a U.S. Army military defense, and began function as a war camp in 1861 and long-term military prison in 1868. During the American Civil War, the citadel and its batteries provided an important line of defense. The island continued to develop in the 1870s and 1880s, and in 1893, the first hospital on Alcatraz opened. A new upper prison was built in 1904, but after the citadel ceased function as a military defense in 1907 and the original citadel collapsed the following year, a $250,000 concrete military prison was erected between 1910 and 1912. In 1933–1934, this was modernized and became the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. It housed some of America's most dangerous criminals between 1934 and 1963.
Old Jail (Gordo, Alabama)
The Old Jail, also known as the Gordo Jail and Mayor's Office, is a historic former jail and office building in Gordo, Pickens County, Alabama. The two-story brick structure was completed in 1914. It originally contained two jail cells and a mayor's office downstairs, with a courtroom upstairs. It served as jail and town hall until circa 1930, when everything but the jail moved to other premises. It continued to serve as a jail until 1955. It has served various functions since that time. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 17, 1974.
Nevada State Prison
Nevada State Prison (NSP) was a penitentiary located in Carson City. The prison was in continuous operation since its establishment in 1862 and was managed by the Nevada Department of Corrections. It was one of the oldest prisons still operating in the United States. The high security facility housed 219 inmates in September 2011. It was designed to hold 841 inmates and employed a staff of 211.
Parnall Correctional Facility
The facility's buildings were first opened in 1926. Present-day Parnall is one portion of the former Michigan State Prison, described as the largest walled prison in the world as late as 1981, when it was rocked by extensive, damaging riots. The prison was divided in 1988 into smaller institutions. As of 2016, Parnell and three other components remain open:
Rhode Island Maximum Security Prison
Rhode Island Maximum Security Prison, formerly known as Howard Prison, is a Rhode Island Department of Corrections state prison for men located in Howard, Rhode Island. It is the state's oldest operational prison, with a current capacity of 430.
Ushuaia
The prison operated until 1947, when President Juan Perón closed it by executive order in response to the many reports of abuse and unsafe practices. Most of the guards stayed in Ushuaia, while the prisoners were relocated to other jails farther north. After the prison closed, it became a part of the , functioning as a storage and office facility until the early 1990s. Later it was converted into the current Museo Maritimo de Ushuaia.
Blackgate Penitentiary
Blackgate Prison (later known as Blackgate Penitentiary) operated separately from Gotham Prison (later known as Gotham State Penitentiary). Both prisons are located in Gotham and while Blackgate is the main correctional facility used by writers today, Gotham State Penitentiary was the primary correctional facility used in the comics up until the early 1990s. According to modern continuity, in the early 1990s, Blackgate Prison was condemned by Amnesty International and forced to shut down. When the prison eventually re-opened, it was officially known as "Blackgate Penitentiary". Because of its secure location on a secluded island, Blackgate began to take prominence over Gotham State, until the latter became virtually unused.
Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center
The 2,620 acre site was previously known as the Wayside Honor Rancho, Castaic Honor Farm, or the Wayside Jail (by which it is still sometimes known) and was nicknamed the Wayside Drunk Farm in the 1940s because of the large proportion of inmates serving time for alcohol-related offenses— when first built for prison use in 1938 it was a minimum-security facility where inmates worked on a farm setting. In 1983 it was renamed the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho. All farming operations were terminated in 1992 and the "rancho" component of the center was closed altogether in 1995 because of budgetary constraints, at which point it acquired its current name. It is run by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and is divided into a North Facility, East Facility, South Facility, and North County Correctional Facility, each managed under different levels of prison security. In its current designation it was designed to house approximately 8,600 men either awaiting hearings or trial on a variety of crimes (i.e., "detention") or parole violators with sentences of up to one year ("corrections"), the two groups collectively termed "inmates." As of 1998 it was the county's largest jail complex. It is also the oldest operating jail in the county. The Municipal and Superior courthouses where Pitchess inmates are taken for hearings and trials include Van Nuys, San Fernando, Burbank, Pasadena, Newhall, Antelope Valley, Malibu, and downtown Los Angeles.
Massachusetts Correctional Institution – Concord
The Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Concord (MCI-Concord) is a medium security prison for men located in Concord, Massachusetts in the United States. Opened in 1878, it is the oldest running state prison for men in Massachusetts. This prison is under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction. MCI-Concord currently houses approximately 570 inmates.
Michigan State Prison
The first permanent structure was constructed in Jackson in 1842. In 1926, the prison was relocated to a new building, and soon became the largest walled prison in the world with nearly 6,000 inmates. The prison was renamed the State Prison of Southern Michigan in 1935. Beginning in 1988, the prison was carved up into several correctional facilities. The Southern Michigan Correctional Facility (JMF), which contained the heart of the 1926 prison structure, was finally closed on November 17, 2007. After JMF was closed, much of the prison remains open however, 7 Block, which used to be quarantine, has been closed and changed into a prison museum and is now open to the public for tours.  The original 1842 site was used as a Michigan National Guard armory for some time, and now houses residential apartments as well as several art galleries and a bicycle cooperative.