Security class Level 6 (Maximum) Phone +1 508-660-8000 Capacity 633 | Population 766 Opened 1955 | |
Director Acting Superintendent Michael Rodrigues Address 2405 Main St, South Walpole, MA 02071, USA Hours Open today · Open 24 hoursTuesdayOpen 24 hoursWednesdayOpen 24 hoursThursdayOpen 24 hoursFridayOpen 24 hoursSaturdayOpen 24 hoursSundayOpen 24 hoursMondayOpen 24 hours | ||
The Massachusetts Correctional Institution—Cedar Junction (MCI-Cedar Junction), formerly known as MCI-Walpole, is a maximum security prison with an average daily population of approximately 800 adult male inmates under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction. It was opened in 1956 to replace Charlestown State Prison, the oldest prison in the nation at that time. MCI-Cedar Junction is one of two (the other one being Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center) maximum security prisons for male offenders in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. MCI-Cedar Junction also houses the Departmental Disciplinary Unit (DDU). During the 1970s, Cedar Junction (then known as Walpole) was one of the most violent prisons in the United States. It is located on both sides of the line between the towns of Walpole and Norfolk, and has a South Walpole mailing address. (South Walpole is not a political entity.)
In 1988, the prison was host to Mother Teresa for two hours on her tour through the state's prisons.
As of June 2009, MCI-Cedar Junction is now the Department of Correction's reception and diagnostic center which receives all new male court commitments within the Commonwealth.