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North Carolina Department of Correction |
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Caledonia |
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Caledonia Correctional Institution is located in Halifax County on approximately 7,500 acres that was purchased by the state in 1899. It has been operated since 1892 as the state prison farm.
With the intent of putting inmates to work, the General Assembly leased the Caledonia farm in 1890. Nine years later, the property was purchased for $61,000. Roanoke River flooding damaged the farm in 1901 and 1902. In 1919, the prison farm was auctioned in parcels for a total of $497,000. The auction raised little cash since most of the land was purchased on credit.
Flooding problems continued to plague the area and practically the entire farm was repossessed by the state within five years of the auction. About 600 inmates were returned to the prison and housed in temporary wooden shacks. They worked to ditch and clear the land for farming. In 1925 construction began on a brick dormitory. Inmates moved into the building in 1927. Heat and hot water were provided the inmates in 1929.
Caledonia's main building originally housed men
and women. Eight dormitories downstairs housed men and two
dormitories upstairs housed women. Today the dorms house medium
custody adult male inmates.
In 1976, 144 additional cells were built. These cells currently house medium custody adult male inmates. Another 144 cells built in 1980 are used today to house medium custody inmates. The prison also has buildings for vocational classes and recreation.
Halifax Community College works with the prison to provide vocational classes like cook school, block masonry, facility services and small engine repair. Inmates may participate in classes for adult education and preparation for the GED tests. Inmates may also take part in self-help programs on substance abuse, stress, Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, DART aftercare, minimum custody readiness and self-improvement.
About 5,500 acres of farmland are under cultivation at Caledonia. Correction Enterprises manages the farm which contains cattle, chickens and row crops such as corn, wheat, cotton and soybeans. In addition, the inmates farm 300 acres of vegetables like tomatoes, sweet corn, collard greens, sweet potatoes, squash, cucumbers and melons. During the off-season, fresh vegetables are grown in green houses. One hundred close custody inmates from Caledonia and 200 minimum custody inmates from nearby Tillery Correctional Center work on the farm daily.
Inmates also work in the prison's cannery. The cannery processes and cans crops grown on the farm for distribution to prison kitchens across the state. It is 12,770 square feet and has the capability of canning about 500,000 gallons of commodities per year. Inmates may also work as janitors or kitchen help.
Caledonia houses many long-term offenders and inmates who have difficulty adjusting to incarceration. Correction staff work to maintain security while preparing inmates for their eventual move to another prison.
DIRECTIONS - Take I-95 north to Halifax County and exit onto N.C. 481. Take N.C. 481 for about 18 miles through Enfield to Tillery. At Tillery, take county road 1141 and drive past Tillery Correctional Center to Caledonia Correctional Institution 4.5 miles northeast of town.
Officer supervises some of state's toughest offenders, 5/01
Composting at Caledonia, 12/98
Caledonia Correctional Institution Inmates Grow More Produce, 8/96
Caledonia Correctional Institution Cannery Processes Potatoes For Food Bank, 11/95
New Prison Farm Manager, 8/95
