The Fort Pillow Prison and Farm originally opened in December 1937.[3] As of July 13, 1998 the institution supported a 6,000 acres (2,400 ha) farming operation.[1] In 1999 the Cold Creek Correctional Facility closed. CCCF was replaced by a medium security complex built next to the West Tennessee High Security Facility (WTHSF). The two complexes and the CCCF minimum security annex were operationally combined and became the WTSP.[4]
Musician Steve Earle performed a concert at Cold Creek in June 1996 as part of a parole agreement after he was jailed for drug offenses the previous year. The concert was filmed as a MTV special, To Hell and Back, which was later released on DVD as part of a box set in July 2013.[5]
