Darrington Unit

Darrington Unit
Location 59 Darrington Road
Rosharon, Texas 77583
Coordinates 29°23′58″N 95°29′27″W / 29.3995500°N 095.4907500°W
Status Operational
Security class G1-G5, Administrative Segregation, Outside Trusty, Transient
Capacity Unit: 1,610 Trusty Camp: 321
Opened 1933
Managed by TDCJ Correctional Institutions Division
Warden Mark Jones
County Brazoria County
Country USA
Website www.tdcj.state.tx.us/unit_directory../da.html
Aerial photograph, U.S. Geological Survey - January 25, 1995
Topographic map, U.S. Geological Survey - July 1, 1984

The Darrington Unit (DA) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) men's prison located in unincorporated Brazoria County, Texas,[1] near Sandy Point,[2] The unit is along Farm to Market Road 521, 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Rosharon,[1] and south of Houston.[3] The prison has about 6,770 acres (2,740 ha) of land. The prison has the Region III Administrative Office of the Windham School District.[1]

History

The unit opened in 1917.[1] The TDCJ believes that the unit was named after the original landowners of the area occupied by the prison.[4] The "Wasn't That a Mighty Storm" was first recorded by John A. Lomax in 1934 at Darrington, sung by "Sin-Killer" Griffin who claimed authorship.[2] In 1935 Darrington housed African American prisoners.[5]

In 1963, before racial desegregation occurred, the facility housed white second offenders.[6] In the late 1980s, Darrington housed a lot of leaders of prison gangs. In 1986 and 1987 a 12-foot (3.7 m) high gunwalk was built, overseeing 13 recreation yards; the walk allows prison guards to easily shoot and kill raging prisoners.[7]

Operations

The Darrington Unit is within the attendance zone of the Alvin Community College. Darrington was included through H.B. No. 2744,[8] filed on March 6, 2007.[9]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Darrington Unit." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 9, 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hinckley, D. (2008-09-12). NY Daily News "Singing up a 'Mighty Storm' in Galveston". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
  3. ↑ "Texas and Region." Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. September 12, 2010. Retrieved on November 19, 2010.
  4. ↑ "1995 Annual Report." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 21, 2010.
  5. ↑ Trulson, Chad R., James W. Marquart, and Ben M. Crouch. First Available Cell: Desegregation of the Texas Prison System. University of Texas Press, 2009. 81. Retrieved from Google Books on July 16, 2010. ISBN 0-292-71983-3, ISBN 978-0-292-71983-5.
  6. ↑ Trulson, Chad R., James W. Marquart, and Ben M. Crouch. First Available Cell: Desegregation of the Texas Prison System. University of Texas Press, 2009. 82. Retrieved from Google Books on July 16, 2010. ISBN 0-292-71983-3, ISBN 978-0-292-71983-5.
  7. ↑ Toth, John. "Prison guards will `shoot to kill' inmates to stop deadly violence of gangs." Houston Chronicle. Sunday September 21, 1986. Section 3, Page 1. Retrieved on August 17, 2010.
  8. ↑ "H.B. No. 2744." Texas Legislature. Retrieved on March 11, 2011. "(3) the territory located in Brazoria County, situated to the west of the Alvin Community College District boundary as it existed on January 1, 2003, extending west to the eastern border of Fort Bend County, and south to County Roads 49, 34, and 255, including the City of Rosharon and the Darrington and Ramsey Units of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice."
  9. ↑ "Bill: HB 2744." Texas Legislature. Retrieved on March 11, 2011.

External links