I know MHC has the nickname of "The Cut". Does anybody know the history behind this nickname, how long it has been called that and why, and is it just the Annex part that is called that??

Never knew why it was called that...but it has been for years. You have me curious now as well.

I don't know if this helps but I tried to look it up and this is what I found on the name "the cut".

It has the nickname of being the called the "cut".
Its called the cut for obvious reasons as well as the fact that a railroad runs next to the prison, it used to run through it. hence the name the cut.
If you are at the house/cut it is generally a medium/max facility. If you screw up there, catch another charge or are just really bad, you can be sent to the annex. That prison is inside of the the house. Its like a big square with a baby square inside of it..

Good info, thank you, I always heard it was called "The Cut" because so many inmates got their throats cut there. But according to the info you found, I'm Interpreting that to mean it's because the train use to cut right through the prison. Both explainations make sense to me.

OK, me being Miss nosey with this need to know the answer stuff e-mailed both the PIO at DOC, and Greg Garland of the Baltimore Sun. If I get a response from either, I will post it here.

Dear Shelby,

I'm afraid I don't know off the top of my head the origin of the knickname
"The Cut" for the Md. House of Correction or the information abut the
railroad. The correctional system does have a historian who should know.
I worked Saturday, so am off today but will try to get an answer for you
when I'm back to work tomorrow. If you need an answer sooner, you might try fishing around on the Maryland Public Safety website.

Greg Garland

This is very interesting. Thanks for the info and please keep us posted.

I would have guessed because many get 'cut' there...but I kept that thought to myself.

This is rather interesting...

The nickname "The Cut" for the Jessup prison complex stems from a railroad survey done in about 1829 in which the B&O Railroad was from Ellicott City to D.C. via construction of the Thomas Viaduct., which was named after the first president of the B&O. The rail routet makes a turn to the southwest toward D.C. at Elkridge, and the term "The Cut" refers to cutting the distance between Elkridge and Washington.

The engineer of the project was a man named Jessup, an Irish construction foreman of the B&O. The first prison wasn't built there until 1878 and probably was located there because of its proximity to the rail line. More information is available in "A Monument to Good Intentions: The Story of the Maryland Penitentiary 1894 to 1995" By Wallace Shugg.

I hope this answers your questions. Gave me a chance to learn something new about the prisons at the same time.

Regards,

Greg Garland
Baltimore Sun

Thanks Shelby & Greg...this is interesting!