What Is Leavenworth?
Leavenworth is a medium-security United States federal prison that is located in Leavenworth, Kansas. The facility — the official name is United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth — has garnered notoriety through television and movies since it opened in the early 1900s. Hollywood has chosen to portray this particular prison frequently because of its unique design as well as the interesting cast of criminals that the prison has hosted. Throughout the 1800s, prisoners in the U.S. were housed in state prisons. The need for more facilities, however, convinced members of the U.S. Congress to allow for the country’s first federal prisons to be built. The first federal prison system consisted of three facilities, which were located in Atlanta, Georgia; on McNeil Island in Washington state; and in Leavenworth. The federal prison system was committed to housing criminals who had been handed down sentences by the federal court system.
