Heritage, Summer 2006 Page: 19
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had three different "faces." The original look was a plain,
box-shaped front with a wall. In 1895 the front administration
area was drastically changed. Made from large cut stones
with a clock tower, the Walls took on a Gothic look. There
was a large porch on the first floor as well as the second.
The third floor was the base for the clock tower with a face
on four sides. The town's folks could see the time from theFather Joseph O'Brien, Catholic priest, at the Walls Unit building bullring,
made of solid brass bars. O'Brien was one of the hostages during the
infamous 1974 siege. Photo credit: TDCJ
north, south, and east, while the convicts, who were most
interested in time, could see the clock slowly ticking away
from the inside.
Today, two of these faces still remain as a part of the red
brick structure: one for those outside the prison to see and
one for those inside. Once known as the main unit, the
Walls was the arrival point for all new inmates for the first
155 years; it is still the place from which virtually all male
inmates are released. The unit is a main hub for inmate
movement around the system, with 200 or more of them a
day moving in and out.
157 years after it accepted its first inmate, the solid
brass bars of the Huntsville Walls unit still awe visitors
who step inside the front door. Though the look of the
building might have changed, its purpose hasn't, and
the walls are still doing the job for which they were
originally built.
Jim Willett is director of the Texas Prison Museum in Huntsville.
Ron Rozelle, a teacher and award-winning author of six books,
lives in Brazosport."My Texas Calendar is OUTRAGEOUS because
Texans are OUTRAGEOUS!"
Texas buys ,morepi.. -Tgaer T M)oore
than , ....mre Pickun.IT BRAGS...
monthly cartoons that
remind the timid how
special Texans are
(and how crazy!)IT'S HISTORICAL.-.
special facts are highlighted monthly so you
can amaze your friends and tantalize Yankees.1 lim fez: Puttins a tiA Aot on a
0" means trfin' to pretty sometlin
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IT EDUCATES...
with lingo and sayings that only
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1871: Legislature 1934: The first BEGINS March 2nd,
created Texas 17 washateria' 1I _
A&M, the state's opens in Texas Independence Day!
first institution Ft. Worth.
of higher learning.
//..............................SUMMER 2006
HERITAGE
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Summer 2006, periodical, Summer 2006; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45365/m1/19/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.