Red Hat Cell Block, Louisiana State Penitentiary

The former execution chamber; the electric chair is a replica of the original (Gruesome Gertie) The Red Hat Cell Block is a former prison housing unit of the Louisiana State Penitentiary in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana which, for a time, also contained the state's execution chamber and electric chair. After a 1933 escape attempt, prison authorities constructed a new prisoner cell block, a one-story, 30 cell building at Camp E. That cell block, which became the most restrictive inmate housing unit in Angola, was colloquially referred to as "Red Hat," after the red paint-coated straw hats that its occupants wore when they worked in the fields. After a federal court ordered Louisiana prison authorities to enact reforms at Angola, Warden C. Murray Henderson phased out "Red Hat," and in 1972 Elayn Hunt had "Red Hat" officially closed. Red Hat became a dog kennel. In 1977 Camp J took "Red Hat"'s role as the most restrictive housing unit in Angola. On February 20, 2003, the National Park Service listed the Red Hat Cell Block on the National Register of Historic Places as #03000041.