Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary

Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary



Introduction

Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, also known as the Walls unit of the state prison system, was the state's first enclosed penitentiary for convicted felons. On March 13, 1848, the Texas legislature passed the bill to establish a state prison. The language of the law indicated clearly that the new prison would be a place where inmates would be forced to abide by strict rules of behavior and discipline and would work so as not to be a burden on the state's taxpayers. The law required the governor to appoint a committee of three to select a site for the new institution. The location chosen should be no larger than 100 acres and should cost no more than $5 an acre.

Discussion Analysis

The reasons for the choice of Huntsville remain a mystery. That the town was home toSam Houston and other notable figures in early Texas possibly played a part. Similarly, local support for the institution, demonstrated by the gifts of rock and timber, likely also had a favorable influence on the committee members. The site specifications in the enabling legislation stipulated only that the location chosen be in a healthful climate and near a navigable body of water, in this case the Trinity River, that would permit "the importation of machinery, tools, [and] materials to be . . . manufactured, and for the transportation of articles made . . . by the convicts to a market." The new facility envisioned by the lawmakers was to be constructed of "substantial materials" and surrounded by a "secure wall" that would "enclose a yard of sufficient dimensions as to allow room for the erection of workshops." Within those shops inmates would be kept busy performing whatever labor state officials "deemed most profitable and useful to the State."

The inmate population grew rather slowly for the first few years, placing very little strain on state resources. In spite of this, however, prison administrators soon recognized the reluctance of state legislators to set aside public funds for the maintenance of convicted felons. In 1853 Governor Peter H. Bell, anxious to find additional sources of revenue for the prison, requested a legislative appropriation of $35,000 to establish a cotton and woolen mill within the walls. Prison inmates would work in the mill, and earnings from the sale of the finished fabric would help defray the cost of operating the prison.

By giving the inmates remunerative employment, prison officials believed they were accomplishing a dual objective: the work itself instilled habits of discipline, self-restraint, and responsibility, while the profits from the labor helped repay the prisoners' debt to society. Through the late 1850s officials purchased additional equipment to enlarge the capacity of the mill, so that by late in the decade the inmate workers could process into cloth 500 bales of cotton and 6,000 pounds of wool annually. The earnings from the fabric made in the prison proved to be especially important during the years of the Civil ...