Texas Prison System Central State Farm Main Building

Central State Farm's roots trace to the late 1870s, when the original 5,235 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 this site were bought in 1907 by the Imperial Sugar Company; the state bought the plantation in 1908 and renamed it 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 Giesecke and Harris designed the new buildings; Bertram Giesecke's father, noted architecture professor F.E. Giesecke, 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 pyramidal roof, and metal casement windows. Today, it stands as a reminder of 20th-century prison reforms. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2003

Texas Prison System Central State Farm Main Building is a historical marker in Sugar Land, Fort Bend County, dedicated in 2002. It is one of 90 historical markers documented in Fort Bend County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 237 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 29.6090, -95.6604 near Sugar Land. The nearest cataloged historic site is Imperial Prison Farm Cemetery (historical marker), about 0.3 miles away. Others within a short drive include Bullhead Convict Labor Camp Cemetery, Sugar Land, and The Sugar Land Refinery.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5157012990. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.