The prison is sometimes referred to as New York's Little Siberia, due to the cold winters in Dannemora and the isolation of the upstate area.

In 1899, a mental health facility, the Dannemora State Hospital, was built on the grounds to house prisoners who became insane while serving their sentences.

On June 6, 2015, inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat, both serving sentences for murder, escaped from the facility.

During the search, on June 26, Matt was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent in the town of Malone, New York.

Two days later, Sweat was shot by New York state trooper Jay Cook, and subsequently captured.