Angola

Volume II : Chapter VIII

  • Starting in 1964, the Angola Prison Rodeo began as a recreational activity for the inmates and officers, and originally was closed to the public.
  •  The $450,000 a day revenue brought in by the rodeo pays for Baptist seminary classes at the prison, funerals for inmates, educational programs and maintenance of the prison's six chapels.
  • The Angola Prison Rodeo is the oldest operating prison rodeo in America.
  • Angola is the largest prison in America, housing roughly 5000 inmates with 3712 serving life sentences.
  • Angola has the largest number of inmates serving life sentences of all prisons in the United States. 
  • There is an oak coffin making workshop and horse drawn hearse at the prison. Previously unclaimed inmates were buried in plywood boxes but this was stopped when a body fell out of the bottom. 
  • The only person informed of the exact time when a prisoner will be transferred for execution in Camp F is the Warden.
  • 74% of the prison population will die there.
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