The original California Institution for Women was dedicated in Tehachapi in 1932 ; however , after the 1952 Kern County earthquake , the female inmates were transferred to the just-opened CIW in Chino , and the Tehachapi facility was rebuilt as the male-only California Correctional Institution . CIW was originally called " California Institution for Women at Corona , " but " Corona residents objected to the use of their city in the prison 's name and it was changed March 1 , 1962 , to Frontera , a feminine derivative of the word frontier , symbolic for a new beginning . " It housed the location of the death row for women in the state . CIW was the only women 's prison in California until 1987 , when the Northern California Women 's Facility opened
1952 Kern County earthquake
1952 Kern County earthquake
California Institution for Women