. >> lieutenant tom ayers, a former marine, has been a correctional officer at folsom for 21 years. >> when staff come in here, especially our uniformed officers, they are taught the history of this prison and the great sacrifice of people who have died here in the line of duty, and they are constantly reminded of that. >> another reminder of folsom's grim past is the execution room. >> the hanging area was right here. in the old days what they did was they did turns. down below us there are more cells. then you got these cells up here. you worked your way up to the very last cell. that was the death row cell. >> over a period of 40 years, 93 men were hanged at folsom, and the stay on death row was brief. each condemned man waited for his turn at the gallows in tiny cells only a few feet away. >> at the very last cell, your day of the execution, they would come in, they would basically put metal over the doors so you could not see it. they would bring the guy out. and then he was hung. the inmates in the cells could only hear the hanging. they were not allowed to see the hanging. >> h