Probably due to the famous 1959 escape by Charles Willis (Yank) Stewart and many of his fellow inmates, Caswell County's Ivy Bluff Prison is well-known. Less well-known is Caswell County's other prison, which is much older than Ivy Bluff (now decommissioned and in private hands). This prison is the Caswell Correctional Center on the County Home Road just outside Yanceyville, North Carolina.1
The following is from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety:
Caswell was one of 51 county prisons for which the state assumed responsibility with the passage of the Conner Bill in 1931. It was one of 61 field unit prisons renovated or built during the late 1930s to house inmates who worked on building roads. Like many of the era's prisons, Caswell also had a farm worked by the inmates to supply the prison kitchen. The prison farm operated into the 1960s.
Caswell initially housed misdemeanants until 1968, when medium and minimum custody inmates were housed together. In 1974, Caswell was converted into a medium security prison housing 118 inmates. With the addition of triple-bunking (three beds stacked on top of each other), the population rose to 168.
A new dining hall was built at the prison in the 1950s. In the 1970s, inmates supervised by correction engineers built a recreation building and a segregation unit with 24 single cells.
In January 1989, a 104-bed inmate dormitory and support buildings that included a programs building with classroom space and a recreation building, opened. This addition was funded by the legislature as part of a $28.5 million Emergency Prison Facilities Development program in 1987.
Lawmakers provided two 104-inmate dormitories, an administration building, operations center and dining hall as part of a $75 million prison construction program approved in July 1990. After a gatehouse and motion detection system was installed, security towers at the prison were removed. With the completion of these additions in January 1993, staff increased to 154 and the inmate population increased to maximum of 484.
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County: Caswell
Mailing and Street Address: 444 County Home Road, Blanch, NC 27212
Phone: (336) 694-4531
Fax: (336) 694-5098
Facility #: 4415
Courier #: 02-53-23
Inmate capacity: 460
Inmate gender: Male
Custody level: Medium
Staff Size: 188
Occupancy: 1930s
Caswell Correctional Center, near Yanceyville, is a medium security prison for adult males. Inmates may be assigned to work on one of seven Department of Transportation road squads clearing right-of-way under the supervision of armed correction officers. They may also work in the prison, typically as kitchen help or keeping the prison clean and in repair. For two years in the late 1990s, as many as 88 prisoners worked on inmate construction crews to build the 600-man housing unit at the nearby Dan River Prison Work Farm.
Piedmont Community College works with the prison to provide vocational courses including welding, HVAC technology, horticulture and industrial maintenance technology. Inmates with less than a high school education may participate in GED preparatory classes or remedial education. Inmates are also given an opportunity to participate in Bible study and worship services.
In 1997, Piedmont CC began to provide instruction in electrical and pneumatic tool repair. Inmates who complete this program are put to work in a small tool repair program, repairing tools for the Department of Transportation and other public agencies.
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The foregoing article referenced the 1931 Conner Bill. Here is more on that law from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety:
In 1931, the General Assembly enacted the Conner bill which enabled the state to take over control of all prisons and inmates. The condition of prison facilities and the need for inmate labor led the General Assembly to consolidate the State Highway Commission and the State Prison Department. This provided new construction money from the Highway Fund for prison renovation.
In the two years before consolidation, the State Highway Commission spent $850,000 for permanent improvements in the road camps that had been operated by the counties. With the help of WPA labor, the renovation and construction program continued after consolidation of the two agencies. In 1933, a $400,000 bond issue provided for establishing and equipping additional prison camps, farms and industries. Lawmakers authorized the State Highway and Public Works Commission to purchase, lease and erect buildings at new road camp sites. These permanent road camps were of a standard design and small capacity. The basic design was for 100 inmates. Camps were located throughout the state, primarily for the convenience of road building and repair.
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Thus, it appears that, at a minimum, a "road camp" was operating in Caswell County at the time the Conner Bill was enacted in 1931. Whether this facility was located on the site of the current Caswell Correctional Center on the County Home Road. What buildings occupied the site is not known.
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Mar 10, 2016
The Division of Adult Correction and Juvenile Justice has named Mark Carver as the new superintendent at Caswell Correctional Center in Yanceyville, replacing Judy Brandon, who retired.
Mark Carver most recently served as assistant superintendent for custody and operations at Caswell CC and is a 27-year veteran of the state prison system. He began his career in 1989 as a correctional officer and sergeant in Orange County. He later served at state prisons in Craven and Pamlico counties before returning to Orange Correctional Center as an assistant superintendent.
He is a Caswell County native and graduate of East Carolina University and Bartlett Yancey High School.
Caswell Correctional Center is a medium-security prison housing approximately 480 male inmates in dormitory-style housing. It employs a staff of about 170 people.
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1Actually, there is another prison in Caswell County, but one with much less history: Dan River Prison Work Farm.
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Sources
North Carolina Department of Public Safety
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