McNeil Island is an island in the Northwestern United States, in south Puget Sound southwest of Tacoma, Washington. With a land area of 6.63 square miles (17.2 km 2), it lies in an area of many inhabited small islands, including Anderson Island to the south across Balch Passage, and Fox Island to the north across Carr Inlet.

On September 17, 1870, the Federal Government purchased 27.27 acres on McNeil Island for a federal prison, which officially opened in 1875. These 27 acres are the site of the main penitentiary complex. The original McNeil Island cellhouse was built in 1873.

The McNeil Island Corrections Center (MICC) was a prison in the northwest United States, operated by the Washington State Department of Corrections. It was on McNeil Island in Puget Sound in unincorporated Pierce County, [1] near Steilacoom, Washington. [2]

Aug 18, 2024 · Washington has been releasing an increasing number of “sexually violent predators” from its treatment facility on McNeil Island, with little oversight. A Seattle Times investigation found that 1...

America's largest island prison from 1875 until it's closure in 2011, McNeil Island held not only convicts but also a vibrant island community starting with famous Oregon Trail pioneer Ezra Meekers' arrival in 1853.

Feb 22, 2017 · McNEIL ISLAND, Wash -- It’s unique in the United States. The Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island is home for 240 of the state’s most violent sex predators and the only commitment...

Apr 17, 2003 · The federal government turned McNeil Island over to the Washington State Department of Corrections in 1981. It has the distinction of being the only prison in the U. S. that began as a territorial prison, became a federal penitentiary, and finally a state prison.

Jan 28, 2019 · Before Alcatraz, there was McNeil Island. This tiny island in Puget Sound, a mere 11 miles from Tacoma, is home to the oldest prison in the Northwest. But you’re not alone if your first reaction is, “Why have I never heard of this place?”

May 31, 2023 · For over a hundred and fifty years, McNeil Island has served to punish people who have committed the most grievous wrongs against others. But it’s also been a place of healing and rehabilitation for society’s most downtrodden, with prisoners and patients released better than the island found them.

Officially becoming a federal prison in the early 1900s, the facility became a Washington State prison in 1981 under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Corrections (DOC). Facing tremendous budget shortfalls, the state has closed the general prison facility on the island.