Oregon State Penitentiary, 2575 Center St. NE, Salem, Oregon

Oregon State Prison 1880

Capacity 2100

The Oregon State Penitentiary is the oldest prison in Oregon and the only maximum security institution currently operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections.

Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), the first state prison in Oregon, United States, was originally located in Portland in 1851.
In 1866 it was moved to a 26-acre (110,000 m2) site in Salem and enclosed by a reinforced concrete wall averaging 25 feet (7.6 m) in height. OSP is operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections as Oregon's only maximum security prison.

This postcard image from the 1920s shows the entrance to the Oregon
State Penitentiary

The penitentiary currently has special housing units for maximum custody inmates; disciplinary segregation; offenders with psychiatric problems; and inmates sentenced to death. Executions, which are performed by lethal injection in Oregon, are conducted at the penitentiary. The 196-bed, self-contained Intensive Management Unit provides housing and control for those death row and male inmates who disrupt or pose a substantial threat to the general population in all department facilities.
Most housing in the penitentiary is in large cell blocks with most inmates housed in single man cells that have been converted to double man cells to increase capacity. The penitentiary also has a full service infirmary and an administrative segregation (protective custody) unit.

Oregon State Penitentiary has a separate minimum security facility located on its grounds.[1] It was first opened in 1964 as Oregon's first women's prison,[2] and was called Oregon Women's Correctional Center.

Holy Roller

Lines formed to get into the Jerry show in 1982.

In 2010, the state closed the minimum security annex.[2][3]




Jerry performed here on
5/5/82  John Kahn (acoustic)





1.)^Oregon State Penitentiary, http://www.oregon.gov/DOC/OPS/PRISON/osp.shtml
2.)^Zaitz, Les. "Oregon to close prison, lay off 63 workers in $2.5 million budget cut." The Oregonian, 2010-09-30.
3.)^ Zaitz, Les, Oregon prison in Salem proposed for closure because of budget cuts, The Oregonian, 2012-02-01.