This Week in Texas Prison History

March 2: 

1848 - Austin, Texas - The Texas Legislature passes a 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 new law required the governor to appoint a committee of three to select a site for the new institution. The location chosen was to be no larger than 100 acres and should cost no more the $5 an acre. The site specifications in the enabling legislation stipulated that the location chosen be in a healthful climate and near a navigable body of water 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 Handbook of Texas Online)