BRUSHY MOUNTAIN STATE PRISON AT PETROS
Taken from the Morgan County News dated, April 26, 1962
Brushy Mountain Prison, ca. 1936
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Note from Phyllis: Brushy Mountain Prison in the background.
They being My Mother Mae Land Obed Land, my Dad and uncle Arlin and Aunt
Melba Mckeethan-Land. It is Brushy Mt. Prison.
It was against the law to take pictures back then. 1936
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Photo submitted by Phyllis Land Hoover
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From the Knoxville News Sentinel: 6/5/2009
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Last of Brushy Mountain inmates moved to new facility
By Lindsay Ziliak
Originally published 05:59 p.m., June 4, 2009
Updated 05:59 p.m., June 4, 2009
The last inmates were moved out of Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex
today and moved to their new location in Morgan County.
The historical prison, which once housed James Earl Ray, was built in
1896 but has been replaced with a new facility — the Morgan County
Correctional Complex.
“(The Brushy Mountain Correctional Complex) was outdated, inefficient
and costly,” said Tennessee Department of Corrections Commissioner
George Little.
Little said it would have cost $25 million to bring the facility up to
date.
An official closing ceremony for the prison will be held next Thursday.
“This is the last of the first generation prisons left in Tennessee,”
Little said.