12 Forbidden Places in East Texas No One Ever Wants to Show You

In East Texas, you can be standing in a quiet pine forest and still be breaking federal law. From a ghost road and a drowned town to prison cemeteries, a vanished prison rodeo and the shuttle Columbia debris field, these are 12 East Texas places that are locked, lost, closed or off limits, and the real history behind each one. Please do not trespass. Several of these places are on active prison grounds, closed federal land or private property. Where I could not confirm something, I say so in the video. CHAPTERS 0:00 In East Texas, you can be breaking the law in the pines 1:18 12. Camp Fannin (Smith County) 4:18 11. Ratcliff (Houston County) 6:49 10. Bragg Road, the "Ghost Road" (Hardin County) 9:53 9. Sabinetown (Sabine County) 12:28 8. Camp Huntsville (Walker County) 14:56 7. The Old Rusk Penitentiary (Cherokee County) 19:48 6. Peckerwood Hill (Walker County) 22:52 5. The Texas Prison Rodeo arena (Walker County) 27:08 4. Polunsky Unit (Polk County) 28:53 3. Walls Unit (Walker County) 31:22 2. Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant (Harrison County) 34:05 1. The Columbia debris field 37:42 The end of the countdown SOURCES Texas State Historical Association, Handbook of Texas: Camp Fannin, Bragg, Sabinetown, Rusk Penitentiary, Rusk State Hospital, Texas State Railroad, Texas Prison Rodeo, Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant, Space Shuttle Columbia crash (tshaonline.org/handbook) Texas Historical Commission Atlas markers: Camp Fannin, Four C Mill, Bragg Road, Sabinetown, Camp Huntsville, Rusk Penitentiary, Huntsville Unit (atlas.thc.texas.gov) Houston Press, "Down on Peckerwood Hill": https://www.houstonpress.com/news/dow... Texas Monthly, "Prison rodeo, gone but not forgotten": https://www.texasmonthly.com/culture/... Texas Water Development Board, Toledo Bend Reservoir: https://www.twdb.texas.gov/surfacewat... US EPA, Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant Superfund summary: https://archive.epa.gov/region6/6sf/l... US Fish and Wildlife Service, Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/caddo-lake Texas Observer, "Refuge From Responsibility" (2010): https://www.texasobserver.org/refuge-... Congressional Research Service RS21417 (NASA on Columbia debris): https://www.everycrsreport.com/report... NASA, Columbia Accident Investigation: https://sma.nasa.gov/sma-disciplines/... Texas A&M Forest Service, Columbia recovery: https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/?p=15828 Texas State Library and Archives, Rusk prison: https://www.tsl.texas.gov/exhibits/pr... Wikipedia: Camp Fannin, Light of Saratoga, Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery, Texas Prison Rodeo, Allan B. Polunsky Unit, Huntsville Unit FOOTAGE CREDITS Real footage used with credit. Where no usable public footage of a site exists, I used nearby places or stock footage as background; those shots are not the site itself. Bragg Road: "Zooming down the abandoned Ghost Road" by Beyond Civilization    • Zooming down the abandoned "Ghost Road"   Ratcliff Lake: Blue Highways of Texas    • Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area   Ratcliff to Kennard, Hwy 7: Travel And Stuff    • RURAL TEXAS DRIVE: RATCLIFF TO KENNARD ON ...   Lake Toledo Bend drone: whyucry001    • Lake Toledo Bend, Texas Drone Flight 4K   Downtown Rusk: RGRVA Small Town Downtowns    • Driving Downtown Rusk, TX (Dash Cam)   Texas State Railroad: Dynamo Productions    • [4K] Texas State Railroad Steam Train   Livingston drive: Brit Trips    • Livingston, Texas - Drive With Me   Walls Unit: Brit Trips    • [4K] Texas State Penitentiary - Huntsville...   and    • Huntsville Unit “Walls Unit” Texas State P...   Caddo Lake drone: Kyle L. Martin    • Caddo Lake Drone   Karnack drone: Haddock Investments    • Karnack Texas Drone Shots   Stock footage from Pexels (free licence). Subscribe for more forgotten Texas history. #Texas #EastTexas #TexasHistory