Offspring - Walla Walla

About "Walla Walla"

Washington State Penitentiary (also called the Walla Walla State Penitentiary) is a Washington State Department of Corrections men's prison located in Walla Walla, Washington. With an operating capacity of 2,200, it is the largest prison in the state and is surrounded by wheat fields. It opened in 1886, three years before statehood.

It was the site of Washington State's death row and where executions were carried out, until the Washington Supreme Court ruled the state's death penalty statute unconstitutional on October 11, 2018, thereby abolishing capital punishment in the state. Methods for execution were lethal injection and hanging.

Located at 1313 N. 13th Avenue, it is commonly known as "the Walls" among inmates and "The Pen" to the locals. The penitentiary is sometimes known as "Concrete Mama", from a book with the same title by Ethan Hoffman and John McCoy. Elsewhere within Washington, and also to an extent in the surrounding states, the name Walla Walla is a metonym for the penitentiary. The penitentiary was the subject of the song "Walla Walla" by American punk rock band The Offspring.