Louisiana State Penitentiary

==Location==
[[File:AngolaFerrySign.jpg|thumb|The sign indicating the Angola Ferry]]
Louisiana State Penitentiary is in unincorporated [[West Feliciana Parish]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/DC2020/DC20BLK/st22_la/county/c22125_west_feliciana/DC20BLK_C22125.pdf|title=2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP (INDEX): West Feliciana Parish, LA|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|accessdate=2022-08-12|page=3 (PDF p. 4/14)}}</ref> in east central Louisiana.<ref name="PenpalSweden">"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BRwfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=AZsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3659,3014700&dq=louisiana+penitentiary+mississippi-border&hl=en Doomed Man Loses His Swedish Pen Pal]." ''[[The Tuscaloosa News]]''. Sunday September 20, 1964. 20. Retrieved from ''[[Google News]]'' (11 of 22) on August 26, 2010.</ref> It is located at the base of the [[Tunica Hills]], in a region described by Jenny Lee Rice of ''Paste'' as "breathtakingly beautiful".<ref name="PasteRadio2">Rice, Jenny Lee. "Prison Radio." ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]''. Issue 4. [http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/149/feature/culture/prison_radio?page=2 2]. Retrieved on September 26, 2010.</ref>

The prison is about {{convert|22|mi|km}} northwest of [[St. Francisville, Louisiana|St. Francisville]],<ref>"[http://www.doc.louisiana.gov/view.php?cat=7&id=45 Louisiana State Penitentiary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603052046/http://www.doc.louisiana.gov/view.php?cat=7&id=45 |date=2012-06-03 }}." [[Louisiana Department of Corrections]]. Retrieved on January 1, 2010.</ref> about {{convert|50|mi|km}} northwest of Baton Rouge,<ref name="Leadbelly100"/> and {{convert|135|mi|km}} northwest of [[New Orleans]].<ref>Nolan, Bruce. "[http://www.nola.com/storycorps/index.ssf/2010/07/storycorps_new_orleans_angola.html StoryCorps New Orleans: Angola is home to third-generation corrections officer]." ''[[The Times-Picayune]]''. Thursday July 15, 2010. Retrieved on September 2, 2010. "When StoryCorps, the oral history initiative, came to New Orleans in the spring, staffer Jeremy Helton packed a microphone and drove 135 miles north of the city to Angola to record something of the lives of people such as Butler."</ref> Angola is about an hour's drive from Baton Rouge,<ref name="Varnado179">Varnado, Michael L. and Daniel P. Smith. ''Victims of Dead Man Walking''. [[Pelican Publishing]], 2003. [https://books.google.com/books?id=vSdXjSNM1lwC&dq=Angola+%22death+row%22+%22reception+center%22&pg=PA179 179]. Retrieved from [[Google Books]] on November 2, 2010. {{ISBN|1-58980-156-3}}, {{ISBN|978-1-58980-156-1}}.</ref> and it is about a two-hour driving distance from New Orleans.<ref>Faure, Guillemette. "[http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite/2006/12/06/01001-20061206ARTFIG90061-jour_de_fete_dans_une_prison_de_louisiane.php Jour de fête dans une prison de Louisiane]." ''[[Le Figaro]]''. October 15, 2007. Retrieved on August 30, 2010. "En pleine campagne, à deux heures de La Nouvelle-Orléans,"</ref> The Mississippi River borders the facility on three sides.<ref name="Leadbelly101"/> The prison is in proximity to the Louisiana-Mississippi border.<ref name="PenpalSweden"/> Angola is located about {{convert|34|mi|km}} from the [[Dixon Correctional Institute]].<ref name="CainDCI">"[http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=AD&p_theme=ad&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB4784C9C4D6BB3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Auditor says state paying too much by letting Angola warden live at DCI]." ''[[The Advocate (Louisiana)|The Advocate]]''. February 7, 1997. Retrieved on February 3, 2011. "Angola and DCI are about 34 miles apart." and "Cain has been under fire for renovations he has made to Angola's "Ranch House" and expenses entertaining prison guests there. The Ranch House was built as a..."</ref>

Charles Wolfe and Kip Lornell, authors of ''The Life and Legend of Leadbelly'', stated that in the 1990s the prison remained "far away from public awareness".<ref name="Leadbelly101"/> The prison officials sometimes provide meals for official guests because of what the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections refers to as the "extreme remote location" of Angola; the nearest non-prison dining facility is, as of 1999, {{convert|30|mi|km}} away.<ref>"[http://app1.lla.state.la.us/PublicReports.nsf/86256EA9004C005986256F19007D601C/$FILE/40cf0d19.PDF Response to Legislative Audit Report of December 18, 1998]." [[Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections]]. January 12, 1999. 3. Retrieved on August 26, 2010. "On occasion, it is necessary to serve meals to official guests because of the extreme remote location of the prison. The nearest dining location to the penitentiary is 30 miles away."</ref> The prison property is adjacent to the Angola Tract of the Tunica Hills Wildlife Management Area. Due to security reasons regarding Angola, the Tunica Hills WMA's Angola Tract is closed to the general public from March 1 through August 31 every year.<ref>"[http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/hunting/wmas/wmas/list.cfm?wmaid=52 Tunica Hills WMA]." [[Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries]]. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.</ref>

The main entrance is at the terminus of [[Louisiana Highway 66]], a road described by Wolfe and Lornell as "a winding, often muddy state road".<ref name="Leadbelly100"/> From [[St. Francisville, Louisiana|St. Francisville]] one would travel about {{convert|2|mi|km}} north along [[U.S. Highway 61]], turn left at Louisiana 66, and travel on that road for {{convert|20|mi|km}} until it dead ends at Angola's front gate.<ref name="PrisonGolf">"[http://www.prisonviewgolf.com/ Welcome to the Prison View Golf Course]." Prison View Golf Course. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.</ref> The [[Angola Ferry]] provides a ferry service between Angola and a point in unincorporated [[Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana|Pointe Coupee Parish]]. The ferry is open only to employees except during special events, when members of the general public may use it.<ref>"[http://www.mvd.usace.army.mil/navbook/Support/pdf/River%20Navigation%20Book/page68p.pdf Angola Ferry] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622031617/http://www.mvd.usace.army.mil/navbook/Support/pdf/River%20Navigation%20Book/page68p.pdf |date=2011-06-22 }}." [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]]. Retrieved on August 26, 2010.</ref>