U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for January 5

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

TUESDAY, JANUARY 5: FIRST FEDERAL PENITENTIARY

Profile America -- Tuesday, January 5th. The first federal penitentiary was completed this month in 1902 in Atlanta. The facility at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, was authorized earlier, but was not finished until 1906. Until these facilities opened, federal prisoners were housed in state prisons. The first federal prison for women was opened in 1927 in Alderson, West Virginia. Perhaps the most famous federal prison, Alcatraz, on an island in San Francisco Bay, opened in 1933. Now, there are more than 193,000 men and women in federal prisons, and nearly 1.4 million in state facilities. Over 3,200 of these prisoners are under sentence of death for their crimes. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, now preparing for the 2010 Census on April 1st.

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 2826

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 333, 337

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look under the "Newsroom" button).

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau