Red Onion State Prison

In several ways, Wallens Ridge is a twin facility. Red Onion State Prison is located on the other side of Wise County, some 30 mi (48 km) away. Both are high security. 

Fig. 99.3 The cosily road to Red Onion State Prison winds up and around the mountain for several miles, at a 10% grade in some places...

Fig. 99.5 Boundary of the Red Onion State prison property. Note the gun tower at the photograph s center...

Both symbolically and in practical terms, it is crucial to note, for both the succes-ful siting of Red Onion and, soon thereafter, Wallens Ridge, that one of Governor Allen s appointees to the Board of Corrections was Dickenson County leader Jack Rose. Rose, who had approached Pittston Coal years before, was at once a visible and vocal advocate for Allen s positions on crime and the economic diversification of southwestern Virginia via prison building (Jeff Owens, 1994). Direct linkages, both formal and informal, between a local coalition of leaders and the extensive resources of the state proved to be a necessary link between the prison dream and its realization. 

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