page_title: Louisiana State Penitentiary
section_title: Farming
hierarchical_section_title: Louisiana State Penitentiary / Operations / Farming
caption_attribution_description: English: USGS topographic map of Louisiana State Penitentiary in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. Español: Mapa topográfico de la Louisiana State Penitentiary Français&#160;: Carte topographique du Louisiana State Penitentiary
context_page_description: The Louisiana State Penitentiary is a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana operated by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections. It is named "Angola" after the former plantation that occupied this territory. The plantation was named for the African country that was the origin of many slaves brought to Louisiana.
  Angola is the largest maximum-security prison in the United States with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff, including corrections officers, janitors, maintenance, 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, so it is surrounded on three sides by water. It lies less than two miles south of Louisiana's straight east-west border with Mississippi. The 18,000 acres of land the prison sits on was known before the American Civil War as the Angola Plantations and was owned by Isaac Franklin. The prison is located at the end of Louisiana Highway 66, around 22 miles northwest of St. Francisville.
  Burl Cain served as the warden from 1995 to March 7, 2016.
context_section_description: Inmates cultivate, harvest and process an array of crops that make the facility self-supporting. Crops include cabbage, corn, cotton, strawberries, okra, onions, peppers, soybeans, squash, tomatoes, and wheat.  As of 2010 the prison has 2,000 head of cattle. Much of the herd is sold at markets for beef. Each year, the prison produces four million pounds of vegetable crops.
  Inmates also breed and train the horses used at Angola for field work. Trustees are mounted to supervise workers in the fields. In 2010, the Angola Prison Horse Sale was initiated at the time of the annual rodeos.
caption: A topographical map, 1994, U.S. Geological Survey
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