Central Unit Prison & Leadbelly's Midnight Special & the SugarLand Express
If you ever wonder about the song Midnight Special - well that Bluesman Leadbelly probably sang in at the Central Unit when he saw the train go by at Midnight...
This is according to songfacts.com:
According to folk music historian Alan Lomax as documented in the book Folk Song USA, the Midnight Special was a real train: the Southern Pacific Golden Gate Limited. A traditional folk song, Leadbelly popularized it upon his release from Sugar Land prison in Texas, where he could hear the Midnight Special come through. In the song, the light of the train gives the inmates hope - if it shines on them they take it as a sign they will soon go free.
Various historians say Leadbelly spent time in both the Central and what became one of the Jester units in the county.
Some folks says the Central Unit is where he "learned" the song (he didn't write it; it was an old folk standard) and put his Houston lyrics in it:
In 1918 he was incarcerated in Sugar Land west of Houston, Texas, where he probably learned the song "Midnight Special". He served time in the Imperial Farm (now Central Unit) in Sugar Land.
One more point: Some people think the Central Unit was the location for some of the scenes in Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express. The arbiter of all such things, imdb.com, says scenes were actually shot at the Jester Unit's pre-release facilities.
