Welcome to the Texas Prison Museum
The Texas Prison Museum offers an intriguing glimpse into the lives of the state's imprisoned citizens. The museum features numerous exhibits detailing the history of the Texas prison system, featuring a look inside the operations behind the fences and walls.
Admission:
Adults - $7;
Seniors 60+/Active or Retired Military/First
Responders/TDCJ Employees/
SHSU Students - $5;
Ages 6/17 - $4;
5 years and under - No Charge.
Contact Information:
936-295-2155
491 Hwy 75 N
Huntsville, TX 77320
Mission Statement
The Texas Prison Museum shall collect, preserve and showcase the history and the culture of the Texas prison system and educate the people of Texas and of the world.
Contact Us
If you've got questions, would like to place a gift shop order, or would simply like to know more about the Texas Prison System, we'd love to hear from you!
General Questions
David.stacks@txprisonmuseum.org
Conference Room Inquiries
Suzette.shaw@txprisonmuseum.org
Gift Shop Inquiries
facebook.com/txprisonmuseum
Popular Exhibits
Capital Punishment
Exhibit
From the time of Independence from Mexico until 1924, hanging was the lawful method of execution in Texas. Hangings took place in the county where the condemned person was convicted.
In 1924 the State of Texas took control of all executions and prescribed electrocution as the method. One of the most chilling exhibits at the Texas Prison Museum is "Old Sparky," the decommissioned electric chair in which 361 prisoners were executed between 1924 and 1964. This legendary device, made by prison workers, was in storage at the Walls Unit Death House before being donated to the museum, and is our most controversial exhibit.
Old Sparky
Prison Hardware
Various types of hardware have been used to contain inmates. This exhibit shows the different types of equipment used over the years, including the old ball and chain, pad locks, and modern handcuffs.
Ball & Chain
Prison Art
Contraband
Bonnie & Clyde
Plan Your Visit
Whether you've got a quick 45 minutes to browse, or a few hours to soak in some history, we've got something for everyone!
HOURS OF OPERATION
Monday - Saturday
10 am - 5 pm
First Monday of Month
12 Noon - 5 pm
Sunday
12 pm - 5 pm
In observance of holidays, the Texas Prison Museum is closed on Easter,
Thanksgiving, two days during Christmas, and New Year's Day.
End of Watch Memorial
Many Texas Department of Criminal Justice public servants have lost their lives in the line of duty and from the COVID-19 pandemic. In honor of these fine men and women a remembrance memorial is slated for construction at the Texas Prison Museum. The memorial will be a symbol of their unwavering service and ultimate sacrifice. All donations are welcome and can be made here.
If you have any questions, feel free to email our Director, David Stacks, at david.stacks@txprisonmusuem.org.
This Week in Texas Prison History
Execution accounts are type transcriptions of actual newspaper articles that covered the inmate's execution. In order to maintain accurate historical context of the time period when the articles were written, the language used in them has not been changed.
September 28
1934 - Huntsville Unit (Walls) - Ed (Perchmouth) Stanton, 45-year-old West Texas bad man, was electrocuted at the State prison here early today for the slaying of Sheriff J. C. Moseley of Tulia in a gunfight in January, 1944. One of the coolest men ever to walk to the death chamber, Stanton firmly plodded down the hallway, entered the chamber and whispered to Warden W. W . Waid: " Warden, I'm ready to meet my God." Stanton needed no help as he walked to the electric chair and seated himself. The current was applied at 12:10 a.m. As guards came to his cell for the march to the death chamber, Stanton, chewing on a match stick and apparently calm, remarked: "Boys, I've been wrong all my life, but I'm right now. Well, let's go." He chatted freely with guards about an hour before the execution, deploring the fact that the execution would deprive him of an opportunity to ride in the prison rodeo a week from next Sunday. "I wish I could ride in that rode," Stanton, a bronco buster, said. " I'd hoped to be in it, but I guess I'll never ride again." The desperado ended his remarks with: "Can't nobody say I went out hating anyone - even my enemies, cause I don't." ( AP, San Antonio Express, September 28, 1934)
October 2
1928 Wynne State Farm - Tubercular convicts irate because prison officials had discovered a tunnel under the building in which they were housed on the Wynne State Prison Farm, near here (Huntsville), today set fire to the building and the flames destroyed it as well as four other structures. None of the convicts was injured. The fifty-six prisoners were herded together in a yard by eight guards when the blaze was discovered. The fire started when one of the tubercular prisoners touched a match to paper which had been stuffed in the walls of the building. Before guards and other convicts could interfere, flames had spread to the building for blind prisoners, the laundry, the power house and the water tower. Undermined, the water tower collapsed, leaving the firemen without water. Captain J. H. Spates, manager of the prison farm, said convicts had dug a tunnel five feet underground and twenty feet long through which they had planned to escape last night. The tunnel was discovered by prison officers Sunday, and the prisoners threated revenge. D. W. Averitt, assistant general manager of the Texas Prison System, estimated that it would take $15,000 to replace the burned buildings. The able-bodied prisoners tonight were in the State Penitentiary at Huntsville, while the sick men were under guard in a storage house at Wynne Farm. Seven previous attempts had been made in the past year to burn the tubercular prisoner's building. (AP New York Times. October 3, 1928)