Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery

Located a few blocks from the 1848 Huntsville Penitentiary, the first prison in Texas, Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 3,000 inmates who died while incarcerated within the Texas prison system. The first inmate buried there was laid to rest in the 1850s. During the first 100 years of the cemetery's use, inmates were buried among weeds and trees with no record of their death other than the grave marker. Named for the assistant warden who oversaw clearing debris from the cemetery and locating more than 900 graves, it is the only active cemetery in Texas for inmates whose bodies are unclaimed by family. More than 100 people are buried there each year.

Huntsville, Texas · United States