[Historical Marker for the Texas Prison System Central State Farm Main Building]

One of 70 items in the series: Reginald Moore Sugar Land Convict Leasing System research collection (MS 636) available on this site.
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Description

Photograph of the Texas State Historical Marker for the Texas Prison System Central State Farm Main Building detailing the history of the Central State Farm, the construction of the existing buildings, and the function of the main building.

Physical Description

1 photograph : col. ; 6 x 4 in.

Creation Information

Creator: Unknown. 2016.

Context

This photograph is part of the collection entitled: Hidden Selections of Houston’s African American and Jewish Heritage and was provided by the Rice University Woodson Research Center to The Portal to Texas History, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries. It has been viewed 21 times. More information about this photograph can be viewed below.

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Rice University Woodson Research Center

Rice University's Woodson Research Center, part of the Fondren Library, contributes digital copies of the Thresher, the Southwest Chinese Journal, and Osterhout family papers.

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Description

Photograph of the Texas State Historical Marker for the Texas Prison System Central State Farm Main Building detailing the history of the Central State Farm, the construction of the existing buildings, and the function of the main building.

Physical Description

1 photograph : col. ; 6 x 4 in.

Notes

Text of the historical marker: "Texas Prison System Central State Farm Main Building. Central State Farm's roots trace to the late 1870s. When the original 5235 acres of the sugar plantation here were worked by convict labor. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, public sentiment largely supported a self-sustaining prison system, with no state funds for facilities or operations. Beginning in 1878, Edward H. Cunningham and Littleberry A. Ellis leased prison labor from the state. They housed prisoners here on a sugarcane plantation. Ellis' land, which came to be called "Sartartia," developed with the construction of an onsite mill named the Imperial Mill. Despite harsh living conditions at such farm camps around Texas, the leasing program continued until the 1910s. The plantation and mill operation at his site were bought in 1907 by the Imperial Sugar Company; the state bough the plantation in 1908 and renamed it the Imperial State Prison Farm. The Texas Legislature agreed in the late 1920s to economic reform measures that initiated prison industrial operations, led to the classification of convicts based on rehabilitative theory and improved convict living conditions. In 1930, construction on the Central State Prison Farm facilities began at this site. The Austin firm of Gieseke and Harris designed the new buildings; Bertram Gieseke's father, noted architecture professor F. E. Gieseke, served as a consultant on materials and techniques, which centered on poured, reinforced concrete technology. The main building, comprised of administrative offices and dormitories, was completed in 1932 as the first modernized structure in the Texas Prison System. The art moderne design features stepped pilasters, chamfered corners, a square tower with a pyramidal roof, and metal casement windows. Today, it stands as a reminder of 20th-century prison reform.

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Hidden Selections of Houston’s African American and Jewish Heritage

The Hidden Selections of Houston’s African American and Jewish Heritage collection provides public access to collections highlighting the history and experiences of African-American and Jewish communities in and near Houston, which in turn shed light on nationally significant issues including politics, art, race, and religion. These communities are underrepresented in archival repositories across the nation, and particularly in publicly accessible digital repositories.

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  • 2016

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Added to The Portal to Texas History

  • Sept. 21, 2021, 8:26 a.m.

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  • March 15, 2023, 1:49 a.m.

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Thumbnail image of item number 1 in: '[Historical Marker for the Texas Prison System Central State Farm Main Building]'.
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[Historical Marker for the Texas Prison System Central State Farm Main Building], photograph, 2016; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1384075/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.

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