Quality Inn: Angola Prison's Closest Comfort

The Quality Inn in St. Francisville, Louisiana, is approximately 18 miles from Angola Prison, also known as the Louisiana State Penitentiary. The prison is located at the end of Highway 66, about 22 miles northwest of St. Francisville. It is one of the largest maximum-security prisons in the United States, with around 3,800 inmates housed within its walls. The prison offers various activities for inmates, including farming and burial services for the deceased.

The Louisiana State Penitentiary is located at the end of Highway 66

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola, is located at the end of Highway 66, around 22 miles northwest of St. Francisville, Louisiana. The penitentiary is set between oxbow lakes on the east side of a bend in the Mississippi River and is therefore flanked on three sides by water. It is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff.

The prison is named "Angola" after the former slave plantation that occupied the territory. The plantation, in turn, was named after the country of Angola, from which many enslaved people originated before arriving in Louisiana. The 28 square miles of land the prison sits on was, before the American Civil War, a slave plantation owned by slave trader Isaac Franklin.

The prison is located about 35km from the town of St. Francisville. To get to the penitentiary from St. Francisville, one would travel about 2 miles north along U.S. Highway 61, turn left at Louisiana Highway 66, and travel on that road for 20 miles until it ends at Angola's front gate. The Angola Ferry provides a ferry service between Angola and a point in unincorporated Pointe Coupee Parish. The ferry is generally only open to employees, except during special events when members of the general public may use it.

The Louisiana State Penitentiary is the state's oldest and only maximum-security prison. It offers educational programs to prisoners in partnership with the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Ashland University, and the Louisiana Department of Education. The penitentiary also hosts an annual rodeo every Sunday in October, which attracts thousands of visitors.

The prison is 22 miles northwest of St. Francisville, Louisiana

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola, is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana. It is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff. It is located 22 miles northwest of St. Francisville, Louisiana, in West Feliciana Parish. St. Francisville is a small southern town with a big personality, known for its natural beauty, history, and charm. It is located 30 miles north of Baton Rouge and serves as the parish seat of West Feliciana Parish.

The town of St. Francisville was established on May 11, 1807, by John H. Johnson, and was originally known as the Villa of St. Francis. It is called "the town two miles long and two yards wide" because it was developed on a narrow ridge overlooking the Mississippi River. St. Francisville was once the commercial and cultural center of the surrounding plantation country. The town is filled with historic structures, including the Wolf-Schlessinger House, now operated as a bed and breakfast.

St. Francisville is also a popular tourist destination, with several restored historic plantations open for tours, such as Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site, Audubon State Historic Site, Butler Greenwood Plantation, and the Myrtles. The town also offers natural attractions like the Tunica Hills and the Mississippi River, which surrounds the prison.

The prison itself is located at the end of Louisiana Highway 66 and is set between oxbow lakes on the east side of a bend in the Mississippi River. It is flanked on three sides by water and occupies 28 square miles of land. Angola is known for its brutal conditions, and it has a long history of violence, escapes, and riots. However, efforts to reform and improve conditions have been ongoing.

Angola is the largest maximum-security prison in the US, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola, is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States. It houses 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff, including corrections officers, janitors, maintenance workers, and wardens.

History

The prison is located on the site of a former slave plantation, from which it gets its name. Before the American Civil War, the land was known as the Angola Plantations, owned by slave trader Isaac Franklin. The plantation was named after the country of Angola, from which many of the enslaved people originated.

The first Louisiana State Penitentiary was located in Baton Rouge and was built to hold 100 convicts. In 1844, the state leased the prison and its prisoners to a private company. During the Reconstruction era following the Civil War, the land was leased to former Confederate Major Samuel Lawrence James, who tried to produce cotton using the forced labour of African Americans.

In the early 20th century, the prison was used as a receiving station, hospital, clothing factory, and place for executions. In 1917, it was closed, and the current site of the Louisiana State Penitentiary in West Feliciana Parish was opened.

Conditions

Angola has a violent history and was once known as "America's Bloodiest Prison". Conditions have improved over the years, but the prison still faces issues such as brutality, riots, escapes, and murder. In 1952, 31 inmates cut their Achilles tendons in protest of the prison conditions, leading to national news agencies exposing the situation at Angola.

In recent years, there have been allegations of deliberate low COVID-19 testing rates, rape, and smuggling by staff members.

Programs and Facilities

Angola offers various programs and facilities for inmates, including educational programs, vocational classes, and religious initiatives. The prison also has recreational facilities, such as ball fields, a golf course, a swimming pool, and a tennis court. It is also known for its inmate-produced newsmagazine, "The Angolite", and its bi-annual prison rodeo, which attracts thousands of visitors each year.

Location and Directions

The Louisiana State Penitentiary is located at the end of Highway 66, approximately 22 miles northwest of the town of St. Francisville, Louisiana. It is about an hour's drive from Baton Rouge and two hours from New Orleans.

Hotels

While there are no hotels in Angola, the closest hotels are in St. Francisville, about 18 miles away. These include the Hotel Francis and the Best Western St Francisville Hotel.

The prison is on the site of a former slave plantation

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, commonly known as Angola, is a maximum-security prison in Louisiana. It is named after the former slave plantation that once occupied the territory. The plantation was named after the country of Angola, from which many enslaved people were taken to Louisiana.

The 28 square miles of land that 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 northwest of St. Francisville.

During the Reconstruction era, in 1869, a former Confederate major, Samuel Lawrence James, received the military lease to the future prison property. He attempted to produce cotton with the forced labour of African Americans.

In the 1830s, Isaac Franklin purchased the land that would become Angola Penitentiary from Francis Rout as four contiguous plantations. After Franklin's death in 1846, his widow, Adelicia Cheatham, sold the plantations to Samuel Lawrence James in 1880. The Angola plantation contained a building called the Old Slave Quarters.

Under the convict lease system, Major James used convicts leased from the state as workers on his vast plantation. During his first ten years with the convict lease, Major James accumulated enough wealth to purchase the slave plantation in 1880.

In 1901, the State of Louisiana purchased the plantation from Major James and turned it into a state prison. The convict lease system, which allowed private contractors to use the "free labour" of inmates, was a very corrupt and lucrative practice for the state's political system.

Angola is nicknamed the Alcatraz of the South

The Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola, is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana. It is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States, with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff. The prison is located in West Feliciana Parish, between oxbow lakes on the east side of a bend in the Mississippi River. It is named "Angola" after the former slave plantation that occupied the territory. The plantation was named after the country of Angola, from which many enslaved people originated before arriving in Louisiana.

Angola has a long and troubled history. The prison site was once the Angola Plantations, a slave plantation owned by slave trader Isaac Franklin. Under the convict lease system, the plantation was used to force African Americans to produce cotton. Inmates continued to work on levee control and picking crops after the prison was established. The prison has been the site of numerous riots, assaults, and escape attempts over the years. Conditions were so brutal that the prison earned the nickname "Alcatraz of the South".

In the 1930s, Angola was described as "probably as close to slavery as any person could come". Racial tensions and violence were common, with one in every ten inmates stabbed each year. The prison was also criticised for its use of solitary confinement, with inmates spending up to 23 hours per day in windowless cells.

Despite some reforms over the years, Angola remains a harsh environment. In 2020, prisoners alleged that the prison was deliberately understating COVID-19 testing rates, masking an epidemic within the prison.

However, Angola also offers various programs and services for inmates, including literacy and vocational classes, religious services, counselling, and an inmate-produced newsmagazine. The prison also hosts the Angola Prison Rodeo, a bi-annual event that draws thousands of visitors.

Frequently asked questions