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Angola, Louisiana: Louisiana State Penitentiary Museum

RoadsideAmerica.com Team Field Report

Address:
Hwy 66, Angola, LA
Directions:
From Baton Rouge drive north on US Hwy 61 for 28 miles. At the green Penitentiary sign turn left onto Hwy 66. Drive 20 miles to the prison. The museum is on the right, just outside of the main gate.
Hours:
M-F 8-4:30, Sa 8-4. Rodeo every Su in Oct., 3rd Su in April. (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
Phone:
225-655-2592
Admission:
Free, but donations are welcomed.
RA Rates:
Major Fun
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Louisiana State Penitentiary Museum.

Louisiana State Penitentiary Museum

The museum displays the state's retired electric chair and many other grim penal artifacts. The rodeo is held twice each year, one of only two remaining prison rodeos in the nation.

Roadsideamerica.com Report... [09/28/2014]

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Angola Prison Rodeo.

Prison Museum and Annual Rodeo

Angola Prison Rodeo - So worth it!

[Zannah Noe, 04/24/2012]
Angola Prison Rodeo

Chills and thrills (some spills) Sundays in October as inmates at Angola try for the coveted belt buckle. It's their chance for a redemption of sorts as they face wild bulls and bucking broncs in front of a crowd of ten thousand spectators.

The rodeo is a celebration of the best side of human nature and the spirit is contagious. Home cooking, crafts and several live bands round out the experience of the "wildest show in the South." Best ten dollars you will ever spend.

[Ellen Bain Smith, 11/26/2006]
Angola Prison Museum

The Prison Museum is free and is located just outside the gates of the prison. It features an electric chair, a model cell you can enter, photos/stories of famous escapes, some really gory photos of prison murders, and a frightening array of homemade prison weapons confiscated over the years, including a shotgun made up of pipes that were part of a construction project.

Also caught the Angola Prison Rodeo, held every Sunday in October (as well as one Sunday in April). The rodeo is inside Angola's 18,000 acres and features some unusual events, such as convict poker (4 inmates seated around a card table in middle of the ring holding cards while angry bull is released - last to get up wins), and Guts & Glory, where a poker chip is placed on the forehead of a bull -- cash goes to the inmate who can get it (there are at least 20 inmates in the ring trying to chase down/avoid the bull).

[Keith Pilkey, 11/18/2001]

Louisiana's decomissioned electric chair, "Old Sparky" (1941-61, 67 executions) is on display. Also some interesting artifacts from escapes, such as a compressor tank from the back of a truck -- two convicts cut into it and hid inside.

Convict Rodeo a Crowd Pleaser

The Angola Prison Rodeo, Angola, LA, now in its 36th year, is a well-known yearly event staffed by inmates from a facility housing the state's most violent criminals. Prisoners show off their steely nerve with a hand of "Convict Poker," when four jailbirds sit around a card table playing a hand while a bull charges and attempts to gore them.

...

[10/22/2000] Complete News Story


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