United States Penitentiary, Lee
Overview from U.S. Route 58
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| Location |
Lee County, near Pennington Gap, Virginia |
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| Status | Operational |
| Security class | High security (with satellite minimum-security prison camp) |
| Population | 1,472 (143 in prison camp) |
| Opened | 2002 |
| Managed by | Federal Bureau of Prisons |
The United States Penitentiary, Lee (USP Lee) is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Virginia. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp which houses minimum-security male offenders.
USP Lee is located in the Lee County Industrial Park an unincorporated area in Lee County, Virginia, in the southwest part of the state. The prison is located off of U.S. Route 58 at the intersection of Route 638, near Pennington Gap and 8 miles (13 km) east of Jonesville.
The annual per capita income of Lee County was $12,917 in the early 1990s, making the Virginia area a prime candidate to host a federal prison and bring money into the community.
Architectural and construction work of the 635,097-square-foot (59,002.4 m2) facility was administered by Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern, now known as AECOM.Computer modeling was utilized to identify and minimize blindspots of prison watchtowers. Construction began in the summer of 1998 on a budget of $102 million. The penitentiary was completed in August 2001 and began receiving inmates in 2002. According to project manager Gary Carsten of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the main recurring problem of the facility is the excessive strain on Lee County's sewage system.
Archaeological discoveries on the prison property include arrowheads and pottery from a Native American gravesite believed to be associated with an ancient hospital dating as far back as 10,000 years.
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