

Oregon Territory relied on local jails for the housing of prisoners until 1853. Legislature recognized the need for a new prison and authorized the construction of one in 1851. In 1853 a site was finally selected in Portland. An out of business whiskey shop on Front Street was used to temporarily house the inmates.



Oregon's first state prison (The Oregon Territory Jail) was originally located in Oregon City (the state capital at the time) in 1842. After four years it was moved to Portland and in 1866 it was moved to a 26-acre site in Salem and enclosed by a reinforced concrete wall averaging 25 feet in height.



The penitentiary currently has special housing units for multi-custody inmates; disciplinary segregation; offenders with psychiatric problems; and inmates sentenced to death. Executions, which are by lethal injection in Oregon, are conducted at the penitentiary. The 233-bed, self-contained Special Management Housing unit provides housing and control for those death row and male inmates who disrupt or pose a substantial threat to the general population in all department facilities.



Most housing in the penitentiary is in large cell blocks with most inmates housed in double cells. The penitentiary also has a full-service infirmary.





​Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) is the oldest prison in Oregon and the only maximum-security institution currently operated by the Oregon Department of Corrections. The Penitentiary has been sited at three separate locations. Originally, the Penitentiary was called the Oregon Territory Jail and was in Oregon City, then the capitol of Oregon. The Territory Jail was built in April 1842. The Jail was later destroyed by fire on August 18, 1846.