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Location | 1100 Woodbridge Road Avenel, New Jersey |
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Coordinates | 40°35′28.7″N74°16′02.7″W / 40.591306°N 74.267417°W |
Status | Open |
Security class | Mixed |
Capacity | 1227 inmates |
Population | 1049 inmates (updated 2025) |
Opened | 1901 |
Former name | Rahway State Prison |
Managed by | New Jersey Department of Corrections |
East Jersey State Prison (formerly "Rahway State Prison") is a maximum security prison operated by the New Jersey Department of Corrections in Avenel, Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. It was established in 1896 as Rahway State Prison, and was the first reformatory in New Jersey, officially opening in 1901. [1] It housed 1,227 inmates as of 2020 [update] . [2] As of 2025 its population is now 1,049
On November 30, 1988, Rahway State Prison was renamed East Jersey State Prison. [8] The change was lobbied by Rahway citizens, who claimed the name stigmatized the city and affected property values. [9] Nevertheless, the prison is still commonly referred to by its former name.
East Jersey State has established a reputation in popular culture due to its notorious and formidable living conditions, longevity and high profile inmates. The prison has been a common setting for many documentaries, fictional movies, TV programs, music recordings and music videos. It also has been referenced in multiple books, news programs and songs.
Rubin Carter was a former middleweight fighter who was convicted and sentenced to two life terms for murder and spent over 18 years at Rahway (1967–1985). While imprisoned, Carter wrote an autobiography called The Sixteenth Round: From Number One Contender to Number 45472, which was published in 1975. The book became instrumental in having his convictions overturned. The book made Carter's struggle become a cause célèbre, motivating legendary boxer Muhammad Ali to lead a march of 1600 people to the New Jersey state capital building in Trenton on his behalf on October 17, 1975. [10]
Chuck Wepner was a heavyweight boxer in the 1960s-70s whose notable loss to Muhammad Ali in 1975 became the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone's Oscar winning movie Rocky. Stallone named the main character for his 1989 film "Lock Up" after Wepner. Stallone met with Wepner during filming at the prison, when he was an inmate. [11] Wepner was also the inspiration for the major motion pictures, Chuck (2016) and The Brawler (2019) .
Other High-profile professional boxers who were incarcerated at the prison:
East Jersey State Prison's distinctive architecture and proximity to New York City has created a preferable filming location and a cultural nexus for many feature films and documentaries over the last several decades. [31] Some of these films include:
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