The name Florida State Prison was changed to Union Correctional Institution in 1955 . This is when the new East Unit opened up and it was named Florida State Prison. However it was referred to as the East Unit because it was East of what was called the "main prison" UCI.

Following the END of convict lease and the LARGE increase in the inmate population, the prison structure changed. In 1927, a license plate factory ( tag plant ) was constructed, adding to the already extensive production line of the prison.

The Main Housing Unit ("The Rock, I called it the snake pit ") was erected in 1928, a major step in the process of increasing the prison population. This building was kept in use until court order in 1985. ("The Rock" remained at the prison site unused until demolition in 1999.) By 1932, the inmate population was over 2,000, and a mess hall, auditorium and library had been added. The expanding prison also added a laundry and shirt factory around this time.

Shortly after, in 1935, a maximum security building was constructed, the Disciplinary Confinement "Flat Top , I was the supervisor here for 18 Months". When the inmate violate the prison rules and are found gulity they are sent to the flattop for punishment. The confinement barracks was a prison within this prison .It had a 12 foot wall all the way around the building and gun towers on the wall . It sat on approximately 3 acres of land inside the main prison walls. The death house was inside this building before the East Unit was built . This building was necessary for the prison and would remain a maximum security facility.

This was also the year the "West Unit" was built to house female offenders which remained in use until 1954 when the Florida Correctional Institution in Lowell was opened and all the female inmates were transferred from Raiford to the new facility (the West Unit remained in use as a medical facility until 1968

In 1955, the "East Unit", a new maximum security facility was completed. .

This is a true story !

Jack B.