They say at night, if you listen long enough, you can still hear the voice of Lead Belly singing the Midnight Special .Get up in the mornin' when ding dong rings,
Look at table - see the same damn thingLead Belly wrote: ...If you ever go to Houston / Boy, you better walk right / And you better not squabble / And you better not fight / Bass & Brock will arrest you / Peyton & Boone will take you down / You can bet your bottom dollar / That you're Sugarland bound / Let the Midnight Special… 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.

Part of Sugar Land History along with the SUGAR LAND 95 story
=============================================================There's a semi Hollywood quasi true story about a Sugar Land prison escape from the 70's. Has Goldie Hawn in it, so naturally I loved it. Otherwise Sugar Land is an unknown prison in South Texas.I was locked up in Sugar Land in the 80's. Pretty quite easy going Texas Farm for convicts. Most of you will never understand the difference between convicts and inmates, just be assured, the difference is black and white and race got's nothing to do with it. We did our time quietly in Sugar Land.Captain McKnight (I can still spell his name after all these years) used to listen to an old blues station out of the Central Unit, about as close as you could get a signal from Sugar Land. Lead Belly was his cousin and they played this song a lot. I was a kitchen clerk (convict) and he would get so excited when the song played it would **** the Major off. We'd dance around the kitchen to it. It sounded way different than CCR's version, and I liked CCR's version better. But still, you're locked up and someone is singing about the prison you're standing in. Like I said, it's a funny, odd, sad and hilarious to hear while standing in the kitchen at 3AM cooking breakfast.There was a train that went by at 1 AM and if you happened to be in Cell block C in Cell 1,2,3, 4 or 5 and the light shined on you, pack you stuff, you're girl saw the governor. But, the engineer didn't always have his light on. Don't ask me why? Maybe it was for varmints on the track. I can only guess. But when he did, you were going home sure as the sun rises.And that's the Midnight Special from Texas State Prison Sugar Land Texas.

@Bubbapie : Is it still there? How long has it been closed?

Here is a youtube
Exploring an Abandoned Prison Farm - Central Unit Prison
www.youtube.com/watc h?v=rLrsK4tnzkgAfter operating for 112 years, the Central Unit Prison in Sugar Land, TX, closed its gates for good in August 2011. The prison's long history was marred by violent fights and riots, with one inmate's father telling Ghost Adventures' Zak Bagans that Central Unit Prison was "the worst place he'd ever been." Inmates slept in rows of metal cubicles directly next to toilets and sinks, and solitary confinement chambers were cramped and stifling hot. After hearing reports of suicides and strange otherworldly encounters inside the prison's walls, the Ghost Adventures crew lobbied to be the first (and only) investigators of Central Unit Prison
www.youtube.com/watc h?v=xqIyU9sil-w

@shabaybay : Yes, the picture is current. It closed in 2011 and it's right next to SL airport.

@shabaybay : That is the most sad rundown prison I've ever seen!!! Pitiful
www.youtube.com/watc h?v=-GwhiCy3xuA
www.youtube.com/watc h?v=__83e2s4qf8

@Deacon_Blu : I've been fascinated with that prison since I first saw it in 1987. If they ever open it up for the public, I will be first in line. I spent an entire day exploring Alcatraz.

Cool picture Bubbapie. I have never seen or visited the Central Unit Prison.

@Bubbapie : I tried Google/maps, and there's a bunch of airports. So I tried Central Unit Prison, and it came up with the Old Imperial Farm Cemetery - TDCJ Central Unit, is that the general location? I assume so, though I'd never have guessed it from driving along that way.

@BlackBird : Here it is, you can see the tower from 90 or 6.