Attica Correctional Facility
The Attica Correctional Facility is one of the most well known prisons in the United States, second possibly to Alcatraz. It is located in Attica, New York, a small town located midway between Buffalo and Rochester. It held many of the worst criminals of the time when it was constructed in the 1920s. A tear gas system is installed in the mess hall and industry areas and has been used to cease conflicts in these areas. The prison now holds many people who are serving 25 years-to-life terms for murder.
Attica was the site of a prison riot in 1971 which resulted in 42 deaths (31 inmates and 11 prison employees).
Mark David Chapman, the man who murdered John Lennon, is currently incarcerated at Attica State Prison; coincidental because Lennon wrote a song on the prison on his Sometime In New York City album.
Other notable inmates include serial killer Kendall Francois, who raped and strangled at least 8 prostitutes in the Poughkeepsie area in the late 1990s, and Colin Ferguson, who randomly shot to death 6 people aboard a Long Island Railroad commuter train in 1993. Both are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole.
The adjacent Wyoming Correctional Facility (a medium security prison) is paired with Attica.
Address
Attica Correctional Facility, Box 149, Attica, New York 14011-0149
(585) 591-2000 (Wyoming County)