Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary

Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary now renamed Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex(also called Brushy) is a large prison near the town of Petros, Tennessee, operated by the Tennessee Department of Corrections. Nearly encircled by a remote section of the Cumberland Plateau, escape attempts have been infrequent and almost always unsuccessful. The prison has a capacity of 1,587. The current acting warden is Jim Worthington.

Related Topics:
Prison - Petros, Tennessee - Tennessee Department of Corrections - Cumberland Plateau - Warden - Jim Worthington

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Among the famous inmates at Brushy Mountain was James Earl Ray.

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As of 2005, it is the oldest operating prison in Tennessee. 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.

Related Topics:
2005 - 1891 - Lockout - Coal miners - Coal Creek - Briceville, Tennessee

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