Central Unit
The Central Unit (C, previously the Imperial State Prison Farm and the Central State Prison Farm) was a Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) men's prison in Sugar Land, Texas. The approximately 325.8-acre (131.8 ha) facility is 2 miles (3.2 km) from the central part of the city of Sugar Land on U.S. Highway 90A.
The unit first opened in April 1909. The unit had 950 beds for men but related facilities increased capacity at the site.
Sugar Land Regional Airport was developed adjacent to this unit, with the runway between two parts of the prison property. The Central Unit was the only state prison within the city limits of Sugar Land which, since 1960, has been highly developed as a suburban, upscale residential and business city.
In August 2011, the TDCJ announced that the Central Unit would be the first prison in Texas to close without being replaced. The state wanted to save money at a time of budget shortfalls.
Since then, most of the former prison plantation land has been redeveloped by Newland Communities as a master-planned community known as Telfair. Newland Communities had bought the land in 2002 from the State of Texas, long planning such development. Two Camp, a former prison building, has been renovated as the Houston Museum of Natural Science Sugar Land. Other parts of the site are zoned for light industrial use to support the airport.
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