South Carolina Penitentiary
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit South Carolina Penitentiary
Step-by-step guidance using the United States system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
Gallery
From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).
Photo by The Acmegraph Co., Chicago (publisher) via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Photo by Hunter Desportes via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Photo by Hunter Desportes via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Photo by Hunter Desportes via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Photo by Hunter Desportes via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Photo by Hunter Desportes via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Photo by Hunter Desportes via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Photo by Hunter Desportes via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Former prison in South Carolina, United States The South Carolina Penitentiary (SCP) (renamed the Central Correctional Institution (CCI) in 1965) was the state of [South Carolina's first prison. Completed in 1867, the South Carolina Penitentiary served as the primary state prison for nearly 130 years until its demolition in 1999. It was located adjacent to the Congaree River in Columbia, South Carolina and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 4, 1996. It was replaced by the Lee Correctional Institution as the main prison in the state of South Carolina after the prison was deemed too overcrowded by a federal court.
Capacity
—
Current population
—
Occupancy
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Year opened
1867
Closed 1999
Figures from official sources · verified 3 Jul 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Operator
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Population held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
1867
Region
—
Security level
Maximum
Death-row facility
No
Conditions
No conditions summary available yet.
Visiting
No visiting information available.
Mailing
No mailing information available.
Practical info
Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.
Known issues
No major issues documented in our database.
Notable inmates
Source: Wikidata + Wikipedia.
Contact & address
No public contact details available.
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- Rikers IslandEast Elmhurst, NYMixedLocal jail42% occupancy
- Franklin County Detention FacilitySt. AlbansMaximumCounty jail660% occupancy
- Gallia County JailGallipolisCounty jail336% occupancy
- Noble County JailCaldwellCounty jail542% occupancy
- Woodman State JailGatesvilleMaximumState prison720% occupancy
- Stark County JailToulonCounty jail3446% occupancy
Data completeness
32%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata (Q19881831)
- Wikipedia
- Wikimedia Commons
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). South Carolina Penitentiary. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/south-carolina-penitentiary
"South Carolina Penitentiary." World Prisons. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/south-carolina-penitentiary.
@misc{worldprisons-south-carolina-penitentiary,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {South Carolina Penitentiary},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/south-carolina-penitentiary},
urldate = {2026-10-20}
}