Ellis Unit

O. B. Ellis Unit (E1, previously Ellis I Unit) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison located in unincorporated Walker County, Texas, 12mi north of Huntsville. The unit, with about 11427acre of space, now houses up to 2,400 male prisoners. Ellis is situated in a wooded area shared with the Estelle Unit, which is located 3mi away from Ellis. Prior to 1999 it was the location of the State of Texas men's death row.HistoryThe unit opened in July 1965. It was named after Oscar B. Ellis, a former prison director of Texas. George Beto designed the unit himself, making it to be the strictest prison in the system, and Jim Estelle, the following prison director, continued the course of action Beto established.From 1965 to 1999 the unit housed the male death row, which had moved from Huntsville Unit. Michael Berryhill, an author, said "You had the toughest convicts, and the general philosophy was you needed the toughest warden. Wallace Pack was assigned to keep the lid on Ellis. The inmates in the prison were restless. There were work stoppages and strikes, and with Judge Justice's opinion, there was an air of expectancy that the brutality and terrible conditions would end."In April 1981, Eroy Brown, a prisoner who had been convicted of armed robbery and burglary, drowned Wallace Pack, the warden, and shot Billy Moore, the unit's farm manager, during a struggle for Pack's gun. Brown said that they were planning to kill him since he was going to expose a prison theft scheme. Thirty-five of thirty-six jurors voted in Brown's favor.