Texas Prison Museum

Texas Prison Museum Website
Huntsville, Texas (Walker County)
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons by Jerry and Pat Donaho

The Texas Prison Museum features numerous exhibits detailing the history of the Texas prison system with a look inside the operations behind the fences and walls. The museum is frequented by a cross-section of the public, ranging from grade-school students on field trips, to tourists from around the world. Since moving to the permanent museum building in 2002 the number of visitors has risen to about 32,000 per year.

Texas Prison Museum

Films Featured

• The Getaway (1972)
  • The opening scenes of the film were shot at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, where Doc McCoy (Steve McQueen) is released from jail on the condition that he assists in a bank robbery.
• Bonnie and Clyde (1976)
  • While the location was not used in the film, the Texas Prison Museum houses several artifacts used in the capture of the actual Bonnie and Clyde after Clyde Barrow raided the prison system's Eastham Unit and freed five prisoners.
• Urban Cowboy (1980)
  • In the film, Wes Hightower (Scott Glenn) is seen as a bull-riding convict in the Texas Prison Rodeo in Huntsville. Later, Wes arrives at Gilley's as a parolee, having been hired to operate the mechanical bull.

• A Perfect World (1993)

  • In the opening scenes of the film, convicts Robert "Butch" Hayes (Kevin Costner) and Jerry Pugh (Keith Szarabajka) escape the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville.

Film Trails

Texas Classics Film Trail 

As Seen In Film