Huntsville, Texas: Final Home of the Most Famous, and Most Infamous, of Texans
Named after Huntsville, Alabama, hometown of its founders, Huntsville, Texas started as an Indian trading post established just as Texas became a Republic. The settlement, founded by Pleasant and Ephraim Grey, soon became an important part of Texas’ history. Huntsville grew in stature and size as many prominent families from the East moved there. The economy thrived on timber, trade and farming.
Sam Houston’s family moved to Huntsville in 1847 while Houston was serving Texas as a Senator. Houston himself would spend little time Huntsville until the 1860’s since he was immersed in Texas politics. Houston’s family left their Huntsville home when Houston was elected governor of Texas in 1859. When Houston returned to Huntsville in 1862 he took up residence in the “Steamboat House,” an unusual house that resembled a steamboat. The house was built as a wedding present in 1858 by a prominent leader and professor, Dr. Rufus W. Bailey for his son. Bailey’s son didn’t care for the house and never lived in it. Houston rented the building after being removed from the office of governor for refusing to swear allegiance to the Confederacy. Houston’s stay in the house was short. He caught pneumonia and died a year after moving in.
The Steamboat House is one of several structures visitors can find at the Sam Houston Memorial Museum complex located on the campus of Sam Houston State University. Other buildings include the cabin Houston’s family lived in through the 1850’s, Houston’s law office, and several other out buildings. The main museum building tells the story of Houston’s life, adventures, and achievements. Houston’s story is not only a long and exciting one but also a tribute to Texas’ spirit. Visitors should get to the museum early so as to have plenty of time to soak everything up.
Sam Houston State University, caretaker of the Houston Museum, is an important state educational institution with a fine history all its own. Founded as Sam Houston Normal Institute, the school’s original purpose was to educate teachers. It was the first teacher-training school in the southwest. The school began where Austin College, a Presbyterian institution, had begun in 1849. Austin College moved to Sherman, Texas in 1876. The state institution was born two years later in Austin Hall, a landmark building that’s still a prominent feature on the SHSU campus. Sam Houston State grew steadily from its roots as a two-year “Normal” school into a major university serving fifteen thousand students. The university offers 79 undergraduate programs, 48 masters programs and five doctoral programs. It boasts a full schedule of athletic programs including rodeo. SHSU is one of the finest schools in the State College system. The college offers an assortment of events throughout the year and there’s even a full-service on-campus hotel providing affordable and convenient lodging.
A short walk from the free flow of ideas, openness and freedom of Sam Houston State stands an institution of a very different kind. There is neither freedom nor openness behind the massive red brick of the “Walls” unit, officially the Huntsville unit, of the Texas Department of Corrections. The Texas prison system was established in 1848 in Huntsville. Today TDC operates dozens of prison facilities across the state and regulates several private facilities. The Huntsville Unit, oldest in the system, was once the location of Death Row. The “Death House” is still there. Over seven hundred people have been executed at the Huntsville unit, 361 by electrocution before the 1964 moratorium and 375 by lethal injection (as of August 31, 2006) since 1976.
Most Texas prisons are surrounded by tall chain-link fences topped with razor-wire. Foreboding as the fences are they do not command the fearsome strength of purpose the fortress called the “Walls” unit does, built not to defend the citizenry but rather to incarcerate the guilty. A brochure called the Prison Driving Tour produced by the Huntsville Convention and Tourist Bureau gives a bit of information about Texas’ first prison. Union prisoners of war were held there during the Civil War. Sam Houston was known to pass through the prison gates and encourage the Union soldiers. A predecessor of the now-sprawling Texas Correctional Industries which now supplies schools and state offices across Texas with a plethora of products made by inmates began in Huntsville with the establishment of a cotton mill and warehouse in the 1850’s and where confederate uniforms were produced during the war.
The Convention and Tourist Bureau prison brochure lists seven prison facilities in Huntsville. Most of the brochure’s points of interest describe parts of the 1848 prison location. The brochure mentions the Criminal Justice Center, a part of Sam Houston State University, completed in 1976 using inmate labor. The Center complex includes classrooms, laboratories and even a functioning courtroom.
As a starting point for the driving tour the brochure gives the Texas Prison Museum,TDCJ Monument and Sesquicentennial Plaza. Situated between the north-bound I45 feeder road and Highway 75 North West of down town, the Prison Museum matter-of-factly tells about Texas prison life and history. A mannequin in a guard tower overlooks the entrance to the single-story Museum. Inside there’s lots to learn about Texas prisons then and now. Displays and artifacts reveal how harsh prison life once was and how difficult it remains. There’s no apology for historical prison policies, just straightforward descriptions of how prison conditions once were and how they came to be what they are today. “Old Sparky,” Texas’ electric chair, is on display, standing silently in its own alcove, now an exceptional understatement of what it represents. Whether a beginning or ending point of a prison tour, the museum certainly warrants a visit. It gives an unflinching glimpse of the “inside,” as close a glimpse as anyone would want to get.
Way out to the southeast of Huntsville there’s Joe Byrd Memorial Cemetery, originally called Peckerwood Hill, where many inmates who ended their days in Texas prisons are buried. Close to two thousand inmates are buried at the site, hundreds whose names and even burial locations are unknown. The site has been used since the 1800’s as a place to bury unclaimed or unwanted inmate bodies. The cemetery continues to be the final resting place for inmates though these days the dead get genuine headstone markers rather than the crude inmate number designation and date of death they once did.
Peckerwood Hill stands in stark contract to the other prominent cemetery in Huntsville, Oakwood, where prominent Huntsville residents have been buried since the mid-1800’s, including Huntsville’s most prominent citizen, Sam Houston. The sprawling burial ground has grave sites that pre-date the Texas Revolution. The oldest stone marker has 1842 on it.
Near the corner of Avenue I and 9th Street Houston’s memorial is hard to miss. The tall stone marker has a quote about Houston spoken by Andrew Jackson: “The world will take care of Houston’s fame.” Indeed. Opposite the Jackson quote on the side where Houston’s remains lie, the stone lists Houston’s history in brief phrases from “Soldier under Jackson” to “Twice president of the RepublicâÂ?¦, SenatorâÂ?¦,” and “Governor of Texas.” The words of his epitaph include brave, fearless, pure, faithful, loyal, devoted and honest. Houston’s grave is by far the most prominent site at Oakwood. It should not be the only tomb visited.
A stroll from Houston’s resting place eastward through the old cemetery is a progression through Texas history. Judge James A. Baker, grandfather to Secretary of State James A. Baker under George H.W. Bush, is buried not too far from Houston. Also nearby is the grave of Colonel John W. Thomason, Jr., historian, war hero, whose portrait hangs in The Texas Capitol’s Hall of Heroes. Further over in the Negro section lies Joshua Houston, General Houston’s servant, who became a prominent citizen in his own right after being freed following the civil war. Oakwood is final resting place for more than a hundred Confederate soldiers as well as eight Union soldiers who died of yellow fever while stationed in Huntsville during reconstruction. The winds of war give way to a quiet peace among the old trees of Oakwood. The trunk of one old tree has literally enveloped part the cast iron fence alongside the grave of Major John Henry, Canadian born of Irish descent, New York tailor hired by the Confederacy to turn inmate fabric into soldier uniforms. The stories of those buried at Oakwood reveal how Texas is very much a land of immigrants.
Houston’s marker at Oakwood, placed in 1911 by the State of Texas and dedicated by none other than William Jennings Bryan, is a tall, eloquent reminder of the man who led Texas. Across town is another, more visible monument, more representative of Houston’s stature within Texas and especially as home town hero of Huntsville. Called “A Tribute to Courage,” the statue of Sam Houston that stands alongside Interstate 45 just south of Town is the tallest statue of an American hero in the world. A man named David Adickes created the statue out of concrete, sixty tons of it. Adickes began the project in 1992. The monument was dedicated in October of 1994. The 67 foot statue stands on a ten-foot base only a few dozen feet from the highway, visible for six miles. At night the monument is lighted, making a spectacular sight to all who pass by.
Many travelers get their introduction to Huntsville and to Texas’ history and heritage near the base of Big Sam, at a visitor’s center situated beyond the wall of pines which are the backdrop for the statue. The visitor center, accessible from U.S. 75 which runs parallel to the interstate on the East side, is almost hidden among the pine trees. The building’s construction resembles that of a dog-trot cabin something like the one Houston’s family lived in, rooms on either end with an open space through the middle. From the parking lot, up the steps to the left is the visitor center, guest register and a welcoming attendant when the center is open. Plenty of information and brochures are available about Huntsville. Across the “dog trot” there’s a gift shop with novelties, gifts, and books about Texas.
To reach the statue visitors pass through the open area, down some steps and along a trail. For those who plan ahead and pack a lunch there are picnic tables waiting in the shade along the way. A small amphitheater with a six-foot tall face of Sam Houston lies along the path as well. Only a glimpse of Big Sam can be seen through the trees. The statue makes its biggest impact on visitors when they step into the open space and look up. It’s only at that moment when folks are fully impressed by Big Sam, the statue. The feeling can easily be translated to how one is equally impressed with how important Sam Houston was to
Texas.
There is no greater contrast than that found between those who populate Peckerwood Hill and those who lie in the quiet shadows of Oakwood. No doubt if justice was pure a few who lie in Oakwood probably belong on convict hill, and vice-versa. Nevertheless, Huntsville, Texas is a place where visitors can reflect upon the best and the worst of Texas. The town holds within it an odd juxtaposition of honorable service and dishonorable servitude. Sam Houston is the story of Texas, often told, greatly elaborated, fondly remembered. But there’s another story told in Huntsville, this one whispered, difficult to hear, but perhaps equally important. What is it that guides a person; that determines his fate? These questions come to mind when folks visit Huntsville, walk through the Houston memorial and learn how a strong will and determined spirit can lead one to greatness, then pass by the Walls Unit on their way to the Prison Museum which reveals in graphic detail how others turn out whose strong will and determined spirit lead them down an entirely different path.
Huntsville is home to the Veteran’s Museum of Texas, H.E.A.R.T.S. (Helping Every American Remember Through Serving), located in the West Hills Mall just west of the Interstate on highway 30. The Museum proudly displays memorabilia, artifacts and photos which represent the sacrifices ‘s armed forces have made for the country. The Veteran’s Museum pays tribute to ‘s unsung heroes, the hundreds of thousands of un-named veterans whose service to Texas and the were no less important than that of Sam Houston and the fathers of Texas. The men and women in uniform who paid the ultimate sacrifice, again, stand in stark contrast to those who for whatever reason lost their way, or chose a much different path, and wound up as the convicted criminals spoken of down the road at the Prison museum.
There is, certainly, much more to Huntsville, Texas than tall statues, imposing walls, monuments, museums, and fences topped with razor-wire. On the square and dotted around town are historic sites and interesting places to visit. Along the interstate and throughout Huntsville there’s fine dining, entertainment, and recreation. Close by there’s Huntsville State Park and a bit further is Lake Livingston, two venues for fishing, swimming and other outdoor recreation. Huntsville is a regional center for commerce. There’s lots of shopping options from antique and gift shops to major retail merchants. More than a dozen hotels and several Bed and Breakfast establishments provide over-night accommodations.
When the day comes to an end, after a visitor has been almost overwhelmed at the contrasting images, stories, and histories discovered in Huntsville, it’s time to reflect on how very complex life is. The saga of Sam Houston is one of twists and turns, triumph and failure, exaltation and disappointment. The same could probably be said for many who live and die behind prison walls. What made the difference? Was it character, fate, upbringing, or just circumstances? Life is full of what-ifs. Few places cause us to ask “what-if” more than Huntsville, Texas.
