Louisiana State Penitentiary

Louisiana State Penitentiary
Unincorporated community
The entrance to the Louisiana State Penitentiary has a guard house that controls entry into the compound—the sign says "Louisiana State Penitentiary" and "Burl Cain, Warden"
The entrance to the Louisiana State Penitentiary has a guard house that controls entry into the compound—the sign says "Louisiana State Penitentiary" and "Burl Cain, Warden"
Nickname(s): 
"Angola", "Alcatraz of the South", and "The Farm"
Louisiana State Penitentiary is located in Louisiana
Louisiana State Penitentiary
Louisiana State Penitentiary
Location in Louisiana
Louisiana State Penitentiary is located in the United States
Louisiana State Penitentiary
Louisiana State Penitentiary
Louisiana State Penitentiary (the United States)
Coordinates: 30°57′22″N 91°35′41″W / 30.95611°N 91.59472°W / 30.95611; -91.59472
CountryUnited States
StateLouisiana
ParishWest Feliciana
Elevation

Angola Landing is 43 ft
49 ft (15 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes
70712
Area code225
GNIS feature ID553304[1]
Angola Landing: 542930[2]
Websitedoc.louisiana.gov/location/louisiana-state-penitentiary
The above GNIS IDs are related to the "populated places". The GNIS ID for the Louisiana State Penitentiary "locale" is 536752,[3] the GNIS ID for the museum is 2603238,[4] the GNIS ID for the fire department building is 2673017,[5] and the GNIS ID for the adult school facility is 2434828.[6] The GNIS for the previous Louisiana State Penitenitary building in Baton Rouge is 552789.[7]
The USGS topographic map of Louisiana State Penitentiary in 1994

The Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola, and nicknamed the "Alcatraz of the South", "The Angola Plantation" and "The Farm"[8]) is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana operated by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is named "Angola" after the former slave plantation that occupied this territory. The plantation was named after the country of Angola, from which many enslaved people originated before arriving in Louisiana.[9]

Angola is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States,[10] with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff, including corrections officers, janitors, maintenance workers, and wardens. Located in West Feliciana Parish, the prison is set between oxbow lakes on the east side of a bend of the Mississippi River and thus flanked on three sides by water. It lies less than two miles (three kilometers) south of Louisiana's straight east-west border with Mississippi.

The 28 square miles (73 square kilometers) of land the prison sits on was known before the American Civil War as the Angola Plantations, a slave plantation owned by slave trader Isaac Franklin. The prison is located at the end of Louisiana Highway 66, around 22 miles (35 km) northwest of St. Francisville. Death row for men and the state execution chamber for women and men are located at the Angola facility.

  1. ^ "Angola, Louisiana". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ "Angola Landing, Louisiana". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  3. ^ "Louisiana State Penitentiary". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  4. ^ "Louisiana State Penitentiary Museum". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  5. ^ "Louisiana State Penitentiary Fire Department". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  6. ^ "Louisiana State Penitentiary Special School District Facility". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  7. ^ "Louisiana State Penitentiary (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  8. ^ Sutton, Keith "Catfish". "Out There: Angola angling". ESPN Outdoors. May 31, 2006. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.
  9. ^ Leeper, Clare d'Artois. "Angola". Louisiana Places: A Collection of the Columns from the Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate, 1960–1974. Legacy Publishing Company, 1976. Retrieved on September 24, 2011. "Angola (West Feliciana) is the name of the post office that serves the Louisiana Slate Penitentiary, and the two names are now used interchangeably."
  10. ^ Oshinsky, David. "The View From Inside". The New York Times. June 11, 2010. Retrieved on August 24, 2010.