Texas Tuesday Vol. 3: 10 Things about Huntsville

1. If you Google “Prison City, TX”, Huntsville is the first thing that comes up. That is because there are 5 correctional facilities within the city limits: Goree, Wynne, Byrd, Holliday and Huntsville. (In comparison, Iowa has 9 facilities TOTAL)
   
2. The Huntsville Prison Unit is most famous for housing the Texas death chamber. Currently there have been 16 executions in 2010. Method of choice: lethal injection. Ol’ Sparky (the electric chair) was retired in 1964 after 361 executions.
   
3. Aside from the correctional facilities, Huntsville is known for Sam Houston State University (my current school of choice). This school, founded in 1897, is home to the Bearkats and rocks school colors of bright blue and orange (pretty, I know). Currently there are 16,795 students in rolled in one of the 79 undergrad programs, 54 master programs or 5 doctoral programs.
   
4. SHSU is named after “Texas’ greatest hero” Sam Houston, who Huntsville is home to. Sam Houston, Texas’ seventh Governor, was apparently famous for something regarding the Texas Revolution because not only is there a university named after him, but the famous city of Houston was also named after him. Fun fact: Sam Houston is the only person to have been Governor of two states (Texas and Tennessee). Anyway, Huntsville is home of his death, burial site and two of his homes.
   
5. Although related to #4, this deserves its own point. In addition to the SEVERAL Sam Houston memorials (seriously, they love this guy), there is a 67ft statue of Sam conveniently located on Interstate 45, rumored to be visible for 5 miles if you’re traveling from the south.
   
6. Huntsville has one of many entrances to the 163,037 acre Sam Houston National Forest, which spans over 3 counties. The forest has several opportunities for outdoor recreation including camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, boating, and biking.
   
7. Huntsville has 3 trucks for every non-truck vehicle. That makes for about 115,000 trucks in the city (that number may or may not be made up). I should also point out that approximately 112,000 of those truck drivers were taught at the “The Texas Center for Egotistical Drivers”. With their egotistical driving, I’ve almost been hit 3 times (once while I was driving and twice while I was biking). I’m sorry, I thought the green light meant that it was MY turn to go. Silly me.
   
8. Huntsville also has lizards!! Keep in mind I come from the land of deer and squirrels, bunnies and chipmunks. I don’t get to see anything else very often. I had my first lizard sighting today and it was a little guy that looked like this:
   
9. As one may assumed, the weather in Huntsville is hot. However, currently the heat is a different type of heat than what Iowa has. Texas is a dry heat for the most part (currently, anyway) and Iowa is humid…all the freaking time. However, when Iowans are suffering through blizzards and below zero temperatures, I’ll be chilling in 55* weather surrounded by a bunch of ‘freezing’ Texans!
   
10. Huntsville is the temporary home to a lost Hawkeye who will be spending the next 3.5-4 years as a PhD student here:

  My school picture, courtesy of the CJ Center 

 

Classes start tomorrow, training with Coach Grant starts next Monday! The ball be a rolling folks!

P.S. I may have written #7 after a near run in with one of the egotistical trucks, the best part, he flicked me off, like it was my fault (I was on my bike at the time going through a green light)!