Louisiana State Penitentiary
American maximum-security prison farm / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Louisiana State Penitentiary?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
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 slaves originated before arriving in Louisiana.[9]
Louisiana State Penitentiary Pénitencier d’Etat de Louisiane | |
---|---|
Nickname(s): "Angola", "Alcatraz of the South", and "The Farm" | |
Coordinates: 30°57′22″N 91°35′41″W | |
Country | United States |
State | Louisiana |
Parish | West Feliciana |
Elevation Angola Landing is 43 ft | 49 ft (15 m) |
Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
ZIP codes | 70712 |
Area code | 225 |
GNIS feature ID | 553304[1] Angola Landing: 542930[2] |
Website | doc.louisiana.gov/location/louisiana-state-penitentiary |
The above GNIS IDs are related to the "populated places". The GNIS ID for the Louisiana State Penientiary "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] |
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. Due to these large numbers, it has been given the nickname "a gated community". 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 (18,000 acres) 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.