Live from San Quentin: Poignant photos shine spotlight on inmates' everyday lives in America's oldest prison  

Photographer Lucy Nicholson has secured rare access to San Quentin state prison, California's oldest correctional facility, bringing back a series of thought-provoking images showing life behind bars.

The history of the infamous correctional facility goes back to the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill. The gold meant a great influx of new people to the region, among them some unsavory characters who would eventually require incarceration.

Before a permanent facility was erected, convicts were housed aboard prison ships such as the 268-ton wooden vessel named The Waban, anchored in San Francisco Bay and outfitted to hold 30 inmates

Overcrowded: With a design capacity of 3,302, San Quentin currently houses 5,247 inmates

Convict: Marvin Caldwell, 63, who said he was imprisoned for 20 years under the three strikes law for possession and sale of methamphetamine, looks out of his cell at San Quentin state prison

Due to overcrowding and frequent escapes, however, state officials decided to create a more permanent facility. For that purpose, they chose Point San Quentin.

Construction on what was to become the nation’s oldest prison began in 1852 using convicts and ended in 1854. The first 60 inmates moved into the new facility on July 14 of that year. 

Today, San Quentin occupies 275 acres of prime waterfront real estate overlooking the north side of San Francisco Bay, valued in a 2001 study at between $129million and $664million.

Caged therapy: Administrative segregation prisoners take part in a group therapy session at San Quentin

Deadly: San Quentin's death row houses more than 700 men awaiting execution, and it is the only prison in the state that still has a gas chamber (right)

Until 1932, the prison housed both male and female inmates. It’s most dubious claim to fame, however, is that it is the only correctional facility in California with a gas chamber. 

Over the course of its 160-year history, the prison has housed some of the nation’s most infamous criminals, among then stagecoach robber Black Bart, serial killer Charles Manson and  Sirhan Sirhan, who was sent to San Quentin’s death row for assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.

Expensive facility: It costs the state more than $180million a year to operate San Quentin

Citadel: This picture shows the exterior of San Quentin prison overlooking San Francisco Bay

Like many prisons in California, San Quentin has long been extremely overcrowded. Although it has a design capacity of 3,302 inmates, the latest numbers show that the correctional facility has a population of 5,247 people. It costs the state $184million a year to operate the prison.

In 2001, the New York Times described San Quentin's death row as ‘the largest in the Western Hemisphere.' There are currently more than 700 men in the facility awaiting execution.

Staying in shape: Inmate Martell Collins, 51, does push-ups in the exercise yard at San Quentin

Pastime: Prisoners play table tennis in the exercise yard

Sucker punch: Inmate Chris Willis, 34, works out in the exercise yard at San Quentin

Life and death: Jimmy Merjil, left, is serving life under the three strikes law for petty theft, while Albert Ruiz, right, is on death row for murder

Under California's three-strikes law, people convicted of three or more serious criminal offenses are sentenced to a life in prison. 

While the law has proven effective in reducing the number of violent crimes committed in cities like Los Angeles, it has caused the population of local prisons like San Quentin to explode. 

San Quentin inmate Marvin Caldwell, 63, said he has spent the past 20 behind bars under the three-strikes law for possession and sale of methamphetamine, while Jimmy Merjil, 70, said he is serving a life sentence under the same law for petty theft.