Tennessee State Prison
Tennessee State Penitentiary Main Entrance, circa 2006
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| Location | Nashville, Tennessee |
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| Coordinates | 36°10′38″N 86°51′55″W / 36.1772°N 86.8654°WCoordinates: 36°10′38″N 86°51′55″W / 36.1772°N 86.8654°W |
| Status | Closed: 1992 |
| Security class | High/Medium security |
| Capacity | ~1,400 |
| Opened | 1898 |
Tennessee State Prison is a former correctional facility located near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. Opened in 1898, the prison has been closed since 1992. It has been the location for the films Nashville, Marie, Ernest Goes to Jail, Against the Wall, The Green Mile, The Last Castle, two of Eric Church's music videos "Lightning" and "Homeboy", and Pillar's "Bring Me Down" music video. Most recently VH1's Celebrity Paranormal Project filmed there for the third episode of the series (titled "The Warden") as well as the last episode of the first season (titled "Dead Man Walking"). The prison was referred to as "The Walls Maximum Security Prison" in both episodes to protect the location's privacy.
The proposed prison design called for the construction of a fortress-like structure patterned after the penitentiary at Auburn, New York, made famous for the lockstep marching, striped prisoner uniforms, nighttime solitary confinement, and daytime congregate work under strictly enforced silence. The new Tennessee prison contained 800 small cells, each designed to house a single inmate. In addition, an administration building and other smaller buildings for offices, warehouses, and factories were built within the twenty-foot (6.15m)high, three-foot (1 m) thick rock walls. The plan also provided for a working farm outside the walls and mandated a separate system for younger offenders to isolate them from older, hardened criminals.
The prison was built by Enoch Guy Elliott who was married to Lady Ida Beasley Elliott (Missionary to Burma). Gov. Turney made Enoch Guy Elliott the Chief Warden of the old prison and then during the building of the second prison, Enoch used primarily prison labor to build the new prison.
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