How old is the Brushy Mountain State Prison?
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary now renamed Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex (also called Brushy) is a large maximum-security prison near the town of Petros, Tennessee, operated by the Tennessee Department of Correction. The prison was built from stone mined on the property. It opened in 1896, and is the oldest operating prison in Tennessee as of 2008. The prison was founded as a result of the aftermath of the “Coal Creek War,” an 1891 lockout of coal miners that took place in Coal Creek and Briceville, Tennessee, after miners protested the use of unpaid convict labor in the mines. This labor conflict was eventually resolved in favor of the coal miners with a bill passing the Tennessee state legislature to abolish the convict labor system, to be replaced by a modern penitentiary system of which Brushy Mountain was the first to be constructed. The prison is nearly encircled by a remote section of the Cumberland Plateau. Escape attempts have been infrequent and almost always unsuc
Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary: History: The prison was built from stone mined on the property. It opened in 1896, and is the oldest operating prison in Tennessee as of 2008. The prison was founded as a result of the aftermath of the “Coal Creek War,” an 1891 lockout of coal miners that took place in Coal Creek and Briceville, Tennessee, after miners protested the use of unpaid convict labor in the mines. This labor conflict was eventually resolved in favor of the coal miners with a bill passing the Tennessee state legislature to abolish the convict labor system, to be replaced by a modern penitentiary system of which Brushy Mountain was the first to be constructed. The prison is nearly encircled by a remote section of the Cumberland Plateau. Escape attempts have been infrequent and almost always unsuccessful. For further Ref. link below. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.
