Texas Prison Museum, Huntsville

After a couple of years of trying to get here, I finally made it and was not disappointed. It was so much more than I expected. I never expected to see such beautiful art that prisoners make. You can also buy their handiwork (as I’m now the owner of beautiful leather coasters now). Nor did I expect to learn so much (and be ashamed of how little I knew). To be honest, I never expected to see more than half of the items in there. I’m so glad someone had the foresight to keep items and document this history. There’s so much to see and read. And, surprisingly, there’s a lot of room to grow into and for even more prison history memorabilia. For people traveling—there is plenty of space for RVs. For field trips—there’s also bus parking. Pro tip—don’t ignore all the items outside.

This place is dope. To learn about the history of the prison system, all the changes and advances was definitely something I needed. They have about a four minute video that you can watch before taking your tour that just tells you about the prison system and how it got started. While in there, You get to read the stories of what both inmates and staff went through. They charge for the tour but it’s definitely worth it and they have tons of memorabilia made by inmates there to purchase. If you’re driving through, definitely stop by. The staff there are so friendly and helpful. I didn’t take more pictures because there was just wayyyyyy too much stuff to photograph. It literally would’ve been 100 plus pictures.