Gowanda Correctional Facility

[1][2] Both prisons were located north of Village of Gowanda at the southern end of Erie County.

[5] Land purchased for the State Hospital by Erie County included 500 acres and was known as the "Taylor tract.

[1][2] In 1982, 40% of the original 500 acres of the Gowanda Psychiatric Center was utilized for the Collins Correctional Facility.

[1][2] Gowanda Correctional Facility housed more than 2,300 inmates,[1][2] and was the second-largest prison in New York State.

[4] It also featured one of the largest sex offender counseling programs of the New York State prison systems.

Partial view of Gowanda Correctional Facility with power plant in background at left, September 1996
Partial view of medium-security fencing at Gowanda Correctional Facility, south side, September 1996