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Georgia State Prison

Location	300 1st Avenue South Reidsville, Georgia address United States
Status	Closed
Security class	mixed
Capacity	1550
Opened	1938
Closed	2022
Managed by	Georgia Department of Corrections
Warden	Trevonza Bobbitt
County	Tattnall

Georgia State Prison was the main maximum-security facility in the US state of Georgia for the Georgia Department of Corrections. It was located in unincorporated Tattnall County. First opened in 1938, the prison housed some of the most dangerous inmates in the state's history, and it was the site of Georgia's death row until 1980.

Despite a published capacity of 1,530, the facility housed approximately 1,900 inmates, with a wide range of security levels from Minimum to Close. The last warden was Trevonza Bobbitt.

The historic prison building stands at 300 1st Avenue South near Reidsville, Georgia. The state's extensive farm operation, Rogers State Prison, is also nearby - about a mile away.

History

The facility was designed by Atlanta architects Tucker & Howell. The modern classic architecture included a central tower and courtyard, and frieze by Julian Harris titled Rehabilitation depicting trades and occupations. It opened in 1937. The building had been extensively renovated and expanded since.

On January 1, 1938, Georgia's death row and execution chamber relocated from the old state prison at Milledgeville, where it had been since the September 13, 1924 execution of 22-year-old Howard Hinton, to GSP. One of the prisoners executed here was Lena Baker, an African American maid from Cuthbert, Georgia, who had been wrongfully convicted of murdering her employer. Killed in March 1945, she remains the only woman electrocuted by the state.

From 1964 until 1976 the U.S. Supreme Court suspended executions. Then in June 1980 Georgia's site of execution was moved to the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (GD&CP) near Jackson, Georgia in Butts County. A new electric chair was installed in place of the previous one, which was put on display on the upper floors of the main building.

Also on display are prison documents containing names, authorizations, and last statements of the prisoners. In the 1940s and 1950s, volunteers were offered $25 to flip the switches which would start the flow of electricity and eventually lead to the death of the prisoner. Inmates would often be doused with saltwater to improve the electrical connection and to hasten death.

Georgia State Prison was the first US prison to be accredited by the American Medical Association and the American Correctional Association.

The facility was the filming location of the film The Longest Yard that starred Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, and James Hampton.

The prison was closed by the Georgia Department of Corrections on February 19, 2022, due to aging infrastructure and the need to safely house larger numbers of violent inmates and gang members. Prior to closure, all prisoners had been transferred to other locations.

Notable prisoners

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with others, was arrested at an Atlanta sit-in on October 19, 1960. While the others were released, King was held regarding a previous traffic case and was transferred to the Georgia State Prison in Reidsville, Georgia on October 22, where he was a prisoner until October 29; pressure from soon-to-be president John F. Kennedy, and the entire Kennedy family, saw King released on a $2,000 bond.

Until 2007, when he was transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Tucson, GSP housed activist H. Rap Brown, now known as Jamil Al-Amin. Al-Amin was the chairman of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the late 1960s, and was found guilty of murder in 2000.

References

1. "2020 CENSUS - CENSUS BLOCK MAP: Tattnall County, GA" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. p. 6 (PDF. p. 7/16). Retrieved August 13, 2022. Georgia State Prison
2. "GA STATE PRISON | The Georgia Department of Corrections". www.dcor.state.ga.us. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved February 15, 2021.
3. ^ "New Warden at Georgia State Prison". dcor.state.ga.us. Georgia Department of Corrections. July 9, 2019.
4. Tucker and Howell Georgia Encyclopedia
5. Lohr, Kathy. "Ga. Woman Pardoned 60 Years After Her Execution". National Public Radio. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
6. "A History of the Death Penalty in Georgia." (Archive) Georgia Department of Corrections. Retrieved on November 18, 2012.
7. New Warden Appointed to Historic Georgia State Prison
8. "Chronology". Archived from the original on May 2, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2007.

Further reading

Interview with E. B. Caldwell, Warden at GSP, 1971–1974

External links

• Georgia Department Of Corrections Archived July 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
• Georgia State Prison Archived November 1, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
• State of Georgia

v t e Georgia Department of Corrections facilities
State prisons	Arrendale State Prison Augusta State Medical Prison Autry State Prison Baldwin State Prison Burruss Correctional Training Center Calhoun State Prison Central State Prison Coastal State Prison Dodge State Prison Dooly State Prison Emanuel Women’s Facility Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison Hancock State Prison Hays State Prison Helms Facility Johnson State Prison Lee State Prison Long State Prison Macon State Prison Montgomery State Prison Phillips State Prison Pulaski State Prison Rogers State Prison Rutledge State Prison Smith State Prison Special Management Unit at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison Telfair State Prison Valdosta State Prison & Annex Walker State Prison Ware State Prison Washington State Prison Whitworth Women's Facility Wilcox State Prison
Reentry facilities	Metro Reentry Facility
Transitional centers	Albany Transitional Center Arrendale Transitional Center Atlanta Transitional Center Augusta Transitional Center Charles D. Hudson Transitional Center Clayton Transitional Center Coastal Transitional Center Columbus Transitional Center Macon Transitional Center Metro Transitional Center Phillips Transitional Center Smith Transitional Center Valdosta Transitional Center
Probation facilities	Bacon Probation Detention Center Bainbridge Probation Substance Abuse Treatment Center Bleckley Probation Detention Center Colwell Probation Detention Center Emanuel Probation Detention Center McEver Probation Detention Center Patten Probation Detention Center Paulding Probation Detention Center Treutlen Probation Detention Center Women’s Probation Detention Center
Substance abuse facilities	Appling Integrated Treatment Facility Northwest Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Center Turner Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Center West Central Integrated Treatment Facility
Private facilities	Coffee Correctional Facility Jenkins Correctional Facility Riverbend Correctional Facility Wheeler Correctional Facility
County facilities	Athens-Clarke County Correctional Institution Bulloch County Correctional Institution Carroll County Correctional Institute Clayton County Prison Colquitt County Prison Coweta County Prison Decatur County Prison Effingham County Prison Floyd County Prison Gwinnett County Prison Hall County Correctional Institution Harris County Prison Jackson County Correctional Institution Jefferson County Correctional Institute Mitchell County Correctional Institute Muscogee County Prison Richmond County Correctional Institution Screven County Prison Spalding County Correctional Institution Sumter County Correctional Institute Terrell County Correctional Institute
Closed facilities (partial list)	Bostick State Prison Georgia State Prison Homerville State Prison Men's State Prison Metro State Prison Milan State Prison Rivers State Prison Scott State Prison Thomas County Prison Troup County Correctional Institution Wayne State Prison
See also	2010 Georgia prison strike

32°00′13″N 82°09′52″W / 32.003506°N 82.164416°W / 32.003506; -82.164416

• Prisons in Georgia (U.S. state)
• Buildings and structures in Tattnall County, Georgia
• Capital punishment in Georgia (U.S. state)
• 1938 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
• Execution sites in the United States