Despite a published capacity of 1,530,[2] the facility housed approximately 1,900 inmates,[3] with a wide range of security levels from Minimum to Close.

The modern classic architecture included a central tower and courtyard, and frieze by Julian Harris titled Rehabilitation depicting trades and occupations.

One of the prisoners executed here was Lena Baker, an African American maid from Cuthbert, Georgia, who had been wrongfully convicted of murdering her employer.

The prison was closed by the Georgia Department of Corrections on February 19, 2022, due to aging infrastructure and the need to safely house larger numbers of violent inmates and gang members.

[8] Until 2007, when he was transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Tucson, GSP housed activist H. Rap Brown, now known as Jamil Al-Amin.