East Texas Places

Huntsville

Huntsville is proud of Sam Houston—more so than the metropolis just over an hour to the south that bears his name! A 67-foot-tall statue of Houston looms over Interstate 45 south of the town center, and Houston's home has been preserved just across the street from Sam Houston State University. Houston kept a home in town while serving in the U.S. Senate and retired to Huntsville after a distinguished career as a soldier and statesman. He died in Huntsville in 1863, and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, a few blocks north of the downtown square. The Lone Star and American flags flutter above his grave, which includes a granite monument displaying Houston on horseback in command of the Texas Army.

Huntsville's other claim to fame is its prisons. It is home to the headquarters of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which maintains seven prisons in the Huntsville area, holding nearly 14,000 inmates and employing nearly 7,000 area residents. One prison, known as "The Walls," is located just a short drive from the downtown square—guards peer down from towers at passing cars—and next door is an arena that formerly hosted prison rodeos.