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Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility.

Constructed in 1818 as Auburn Prison, it was the second state prison in New York, the site of the first execution by electric chair in 1890, and the namesake of the \"Auburn System,\" a correctional system in which prisoners were housed in solitary confinement in large rectangular buildings, and performed penal labor under silence that was enforced at all times. The prison was renamed the Auburn Correctional Facility in 1970. The prison is among the oldest functional prisons in the United States.

The prison charged a fee for tourists in order to raise funds for the prison. Eventually, to discourage most visitors, the fee was increased.

Besides the history of the place, it is best known locally for the statue of a colonial soldier atop the apex. For disputed reasons, this figure is called \"Copper John.\"

Pre-Modern West 1800 - 1850 Crime