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Folsom State Prison (FSP), also known as Folsom State Prison, Represa is one of 33 prison facilities operated by the California Department of Corrections (CDC). FSP is located near the City of Folsom in Sacramento County, 20 miles from the state capital of Sacramento, California.
As of the 2000 United States Census, FSP had an inmate population of 7,246 housed at level 1 and 2 security, the two lowest levels of security for prison facilities operated by the CDC. Level 1 prisoners are housed in open dormitories without a secure perimeter, and Level 2 prisoners are housed in open dormitories with secure perimeter fences and armed guard coverage.
FSP is California's second oldest prison facility, long known for its harsh conditions in the decades following the California Gold Rush. Prison construction began in 1878 on the site of the Stony Bar mining camp along the American River. Inmates spent most of their time in the dark behind solid iron doors in stone cells measuring 4 feet by 8 feet with 6 inch eye slots. Air holes were drilled into the cell doors in the 1940s, and the cell doors are still in use today.
Although Folsom now houses primarily medium security prisoners, Folsom was one of America's first maximum security prisons, and a total of 93 prisoners were hanged at Folsom between December 13, 1895 and December 3, 1937. After that time, executions were carried out in California were performed in the gas chamber at California's San Quentin Prison.
Folsom Prison was made famous by country music singer Johnny Cash, who performed a live concert at Folsom Prison in 1968 and narrated a fictional account of an outlaw's incarceration in his song Folsom Prison Blues. Contrary to popular belief, Cash was never incarcerated in this or any state or federal prison, but he did spend an occasional night in jail.
 The Reproduction of Social Control: A Study of Prison Workers at San Quentin |
 False Starts: A Memoir of San Quentin and Other Prisons |
 This Is San Quentin |
 San Quentin Inside the Walls | ||||
 Finding Freedom: Writings from Death Row |
 The San Quentin Story |
 Star Rover |
 Frommer's Irreverent Guide to San Francisco | ||||
 Criminal Injustice: Confronting the Prison Crisis |
