History
The Texas Prison Museum first opened on the downtown square in Huntsville, TX in April 1989.The museum is a non-profit charitable corporation, overseen by a board of trustees and receives no state funding. Soon after opening its doors, the museum started to receive several donations of artifacts from across the state and it outgrew its downtown location. The museum opened its doors at its current location in 2002 and with it being visible from I-45 the number of visitors and artifact donations continues to grow.
Specialties
The Texas Prison Museum offers an intriguing glimpse into the lives of the state's least-loved citizens. The museum features numerous exhibits detailing the history of the Texas prison system, both from the point of view of the inmates as well as the men and women who worked within the prison walls. The mission statement of the Texas Prison Museum is to collect, preserve, and showcase the history and culture of the Texas prison system and educate the people of Texas and of the world. The Texas Prison Museum also has an archives for scholars to do research on various topics of the Texas prison system.