Oregon State Penitentiary

Oregon State Penitentiary, sometimes called Oregon State Prison, is a maximum security prison in Oregon, United States. Opened in 1851, the 2,242 capacity prison is the oldest prison in the state. The all-male facility is located in Salem and is operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections.OSP contains Oregon's death row, which houses most of the 37 people awaiting execution in Oregon. It also contains an intensive management wing, which is being transformed into a psychiatric facility for mentally ill prisoners throughout Oregon.HistoryPrior to the construction of prisons in Oregon, many people convicted of crimes were either hanged or pardoned. Oregon State Penitentiary was originally built in Portland in 1851. Operating this facility proved difficult because it spanned two blocks, with a city street running through the middle. In 1859, the facility was leased to private contractors (Robert Newell and L. N. English), who instituted a system of prison labor. This new system led to many escapes. In 1866 the state officially moved the penitentiary to a 26acre site in Salem, enclosed by a reinforced concrete wall averaging 14ft in height. The prison also began using a device called the "Gardner shackle" (later called the "Oregon Boot"), a heavy metal device attached to prisoners' legs to impede movement. Escapes continued at the new facility, despite the wall and the Boot. The most famous of these occurred in 1902, when Harry Tracy and David Merrill killed three guards with a gun. Details about this period can be read in Thirteen Years in Oregon State Penitentiary, a book written by Joseph "Bunko" Kelly. Kelly describes scenes of extreme brutality, particularly floggings, which he recounts happening to whites, blacks, Indians, and a Chinese "half boy and half woman". He describes negligent doctors and a lack of mental health care, and complains that whiskey drinking affects the behavior of the guards. He also identifies a five-year period in which the warden stopped newspaper deliveries to prevent convicts from learning of pardons. The prison announced in 1904 that it would end the use of flogging, and instead punish prisoners by spraying them with cold water from a garden hose.