San Quentin State Prison

San Quentin State Prison is located on 432 acres (1.7 km²) on Point Quentin in Marin County, California, north of San Francisco. San Quentin State Prison was opened in July 1852, and is the oldest prison in California. It was built by inmates who were housed on the prison ship Waban during the construction. San Quentin held both male and female inmates until 1933 when the women's prison at Tehachapi was built.

Note about the name

San and Santa are the Spanish words for Saint, San being the male form, and Santa the female. However Quentin was not a saint; he was actually a prisoner who served time for murder in the prison during its history. The reason for this naming is that many places in the locality already had the name San or Santa, for example San Rafael, San Francisco, San Anselmo, Santa Rosa and San Jose to name a few. When naming the prison after the infamous Quentin, the authorities decided to keep the local "san tradition" and named it San Quentin.

Related Topics:
Spanish - San Rafael - San Francisco - San Anselmo - Santa Rosa - San Jose

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