<P> Angola is the largest maximum - security prison in the United States with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff , including corrections officers , janitors , maintenance , and wardens . Located in West Feliciana Parish , the prison is set between oxbow lakes on the east side of a bend of the Mississippi River , so it is surrounded on three sides by water . It lies less than two miles south of Louisiana 's straight east - west border with Mississippi . The 18,000 - acre ( 7,300 ha ) of land the prison sits on was known before the American Civil War as the Angola Plantations and was owned by Isaac Franklin . The prison is located at the end of Louisiana Highway 66 , around 22 miles ( 35 km ) northwest of St. Francisville . </P>
<P> Angola is the largest maximum - security prison in the United States with 6,300 prisoners and 1,800 staff , including corrections officers , janitors , maintenance , and wardens . Located in West Feliciana Parish , the prison is set between oxbow lakes on the east side of a bend of the Mississippi River , so it is surrounded on three sides by water . It lies less than two miles south of Louisiana 's straight east - west border with Mississippi . The 18,000 - acre ( 7,300 ha ) of land the prison sits on was known before the American Civil War as the Angola Plantations and was owned by Isaac Franklin . The prison is located at the end of Louisiana Highway 66 , around 22 miles ( 35 km ) northwest of St. Francisville . </P>
what is the largest prison in the united states
what is the largest prison in the united states
Angola
Angola