Hunstville Day Trip Pt. 1

I lived in Huntsville, Texas, for four years. I like to tell people I did four years in Huntsville at one of the state institutions (for those of you non locals there is Sam Houston State University and the state prison system). In case you're wondering I went to SHSU and graduated back in the late 1990s. The whole time there I heard of the prison museum and kept putting it off. I figured one day I'd get around to it but alas I never did. A short 15 years later the opportunity arose so I took it. My first surprise was that the prison museum moved from it's original location in downtown Huntsville to the other side of town. This bigger facility provides visitors with a deeper (and sometimes darker) look into prison life.

A model of the Walls Unit.

This pistol was found in the car after Bonnie and Clyde were killed in Louisiana.

This memoriam honors those TDC employees killed in the line of duty.

This pistol was carried by Wallace Pack (on the left) and taken from him by inmate Eroy Brown. Brown shot and killed Billy Moore (on the right) and drowned Warden Pack. Brown was tried three times for the murder and was actually acquitted. As a result Brown serves his sentence in South Carolina because the courts felt he wouldn't survive inside a Texas prison. According to this article the jury bought the inmate's self defense claim.

Weapons used to keep control in the prisons.

This exhibit serves to inform people about the highly controversial death penalty in Texas. Two of the cause celebs of the anti death penalty crowd were Karla Faye Tucker and Gary Graham. They like the picture of the smiling Karla to evoke sympathy but never show the brutal pictures (I've seen them) of her victims. Karla took a pick ax and murdered two people and said with each strike felt an orgasm. Imagine a scene from a bloody zombie movie and that's what those pictures looked like. Gary Graham was a burglar, rapist, and murderer. His supporters argued he didn't kill the man from Arizona that got him the death penalty. They used the usual arguments (frame up, racism, etc). It shouldn't be forgotten that Graham was found drunk after raping an elderly woman. When he was executed it was a circus. Black activists from Houston staged a rally and walked with their rifles out in the open. What many people don't know is members of the KKK had planned to attend in support of the execution but law enforcement officials stopped them at the county line and convinced them to turn back.

A saw used in the fields turned into a canvass for prison artists.

The bicycle in this picture was left outside a prison and an inmate rode off in a failed escape attempt.

Old Sparky. The electric chair. Many inmates met their fates here.

A model cell. Could you live in one of these for 5? 10? 20 years?

A Bible meant to give hope, enlightenment, and salvation to the condemned. It's thick pages could be cut to conceal contraband.

A sampling of weapons made by creative inmates. In here are two tattoo guns, home made guns, and many edged weapons.

Ed White's Spacewalk

On June 03, 1965, NASA sent astronaut Ed White on a 23 minute space walk. Most likely in response to Russia's prior successful spacewalk and not wanting to be outdone. Nevertheless Ed embarked on a trip that very few will ever experience. Ed "walked" about 187 miles above the surface of Hawaii. Unless an astronaut reads my little blog none of us will ever get to float in space, look down on the planet, down on all the human drama playing out underneath. None of us will float in solitude, staring out into the darkness, and maybe, just maybe have that feeling of being watched by something hidden amongst the stars.

Full article and video here.

North Brother Island

Taken in 1943 when WWII vets were being housed. Looking better than it did 40 years prior.

North Brother circa 1937 when its residents mostly suffered from venereal diseases.

This gym was added shortly before the facility closed to help treat juvenile addiction.

This abandoned examination table sits in the morgue. Use your imagination here.

Doctor's cottage.

The morgue sits on the right, the power plant on the left.

Nurses cottages.

Mother nature reclaiming her island.

An abandoned alter piece. Wonder what kind of services it saw.

Welcome to the North Brother quarantine zone. It rests between Queens and The Bronx, New York. Nowadays the island is home to birds and the general public isn't allowed. Thanks to photographer Ian Ference we can now get a look at ruins that mother nature is now reclaiming. In 1885 it saw use as a quarantine zone for people with infectious (and often fatal) diseases (including 6 who suffered from leprosy). It's most famous resident was Mary Mallon whom history will remember as Typhoid Mary who cooked there (no thanks I'll just starve). Conditions here were horrible and not many patients survived. In 1942, it was closed and briefly used to house WWII veterans. In 1952, New York tried to treat juvenile addicts but that didn't work. In 1963, the institution closed down and nature slowly began to reclaim it. Read the full article here. Enjoy the tour.

The Jesus and Mary Chain

I missed my chance once to see them and 20 years later finally got to make up for it. I enjoyed myself needless to say. Funny to me how we've all aged in that time. They no longer sported the Japanese anime hair cuts from the late 80s/90s. Nevertheless people (for the most part) got what they came for. Even the guy who got thrown out for trying to start a mosh pit.

A Little Moment

It was a three hour drive to get here in the beautiful Texas hill country. I had little sleep and a lousy sandwich from a gas station that I returned unceremoniously later on. After a night's rest it was breakfast time at a local Mexican cafe. I sipped my coffee while watching Burnet go by. The local cops came in and tabled up together, locals rushing to run errands while on lunch, and I sipped my coffee without a care in the world for that moment. I live for little moments like this.