Louisiana State Penitentiary

The prison is surrounded by high fences and thick walls that seem to go on for miles, creating a feeling of isolation and quiet as you walk past the long rows of dormitories and work buildings spread over the grounds.

This facility opened in 1901 on land that was once a cotton plantation, and its name comes from the African country of Angola, where many enslaved people were brought from, connecting it to a painful history of forced labor.

Most of the men inside are serving life sentences, and over the years, many will spend their final days here and be buried in the graveyard on the prison grounds, reflecting the hard reality that few ever leave this place.

The prison allows visitors during specific hours, but access is very limited, and most outsiders never see the inside, making it a closed world that few people beyond inmates and staff experience directly in their daily life.

One prisoner has been driving the prison's horse-drawn hearse since the 1970s, transporting the bodies of inmates who die here, with over 40 burials each year marking the end of lives spent behind the walls of this historic prison.

Location: West Feliciana Parish

Address: Tunica Trace

Opening Hours: Monday-Saturday 09:00-15:30; Sunday 00:00-00:00

Phone: +12256552607

Website: https://doc.louisiana.gov/location/louisiana-state-penitentiary

GPS coordinates: 30.95968,-91.60425

Latest update: December 3, 2025 10:40