DUANE
Duane's take
Here's what the official marker has to say, and I'll tell it the way Huntsville deserves. Some buildings just carry weight. You can feel it before you even read the sign.
The Huntsville Walls Unit — the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville — is one of those places. Now, the Republic of Texas Congress passed a law to establish a prison system all the way back in 1842. But passing a law and actually building something — well, those are two different animals entirely.
It wasn't until 1848, after a new law passed the state legislature, that anyone actually took steps to make it happen. Huntsville was selected as the site, and Governor George Tyler Wood appointed a master builder named Abner H. Cook as the first superintendent and construction supervisor for the prison.
And here's where the story starts getting specific. The first three inmates arrived in 1849 — to a facility that wasn't even finished yet, mind you. A cattle thief, a murderer, and a horse thief.
Three men walking into an incomplete building at the start of something that would stretch across centuries. You wonder if any of them had any sense of that. Throughout its history, the Walls Unit has cycled through periods of negligence and reform.
In the 1850s, the prison was operating a cotton and woolen mill, running on inmate labor to help generate its own revenue. Then in 1866, the state legislature enabled the superintendent to lease prisoners out for work in the private sector. That convict lease system ran and ran — until a reform movement in the early 20th century finally accomplished its abolition in 1910.
More reforms came, and the pressures of the Great Depression pushed the facility toward operating more efficiently. Out of that came canning operations, a license plate manufacturing plant, and something that sounds almost festive against that backdrop — the Texas Prison Rodeo. The walls of this penitentiary have held some names history didn't forget.
Kiowa chiefs Satanta and Big Tree were held here. So was John Wesley Hardin, the infamous gunslinger. And during the Civil War, Federal prisoners of war were confined within these same walls.
For most of its existence, this was the headquarters of the Texas prison system — all the way until 1989. And it was here, at the Walls Unit, that capital punishment was carried out. From 1924 until 1964.
And then again after 1982. Some buildings carry weight. The Walls Unit has been carrying it for a long, long time.
What the marker says
(Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville) The Republic of Texas Congress passed a law to establish a prison system in 1842, but it wasn't until 1848, after a new law passed the state legislature, that steps were taken to achieve the goal. Huntsville was selected as the site for the state prison facility, and Governor George Tyler Wood appointed master builder Abner H. Cook as first superintendent and construction supervisor for the prison. The first three inmates -- a cattle thief, a murderer and a horse thief -- arrived to a partially completed facility in 1849. Throughout its history, the Walls Unit has cycled through periods of negligence and reform, with a variety of administrative boards governing its operations. In the 1850s, the prison operated a cotton and woolen mill with inmate labor to help generate its own revenue. In 1866, the state legislature enabled the superintendent to lease the prisoners for work in the private sector. This convict lease system lasted until the reform movement in the early 20th century accomplished its abolition in 1910. Additional reforms and a need created during the Great Depression to operate the facility more efficiently led to the establishment of canning operations, a license plate manufacturing plant, and the inauguration of the Texas Prison Rodeo. This penitentiary has held Kiowa chiefs Satanta and Big Tree, infamous gunslinger John Wesley Hardin, and Federal prisoners of war during the Civil War. As headquarters of the Texas prison system until 1989, the Walls Unit is the facility from which capital punishment was carried out from 1924 until 1964, and then again after 1982. (2001)