[3] The 12,789 acres (5,176 ha) prison is located on Farm to Market Road 230,[4] near Lovelady and 13 miles (21 km) west of Trinity.

After a sexual abuse scandal occurred, the Texas Prison System administrators moved the women to be closer to Huntsville, and Eastham began housing men.

They severely beat a Houston County dairy farmer and his son, stealing guns and a car to further their escape.

Highway Patrolman Paul Bruno, who was stationed in Huntsville captured two escaped inmates of the Eastham Unit TDC as they were entering I-45 heading to Dallas.

[12] In 1972 prisoners at Eastham filed Ruiz v. Estelle, a class action lawsuit against the Texas Department of Corrections (TDC), as the TDCJ was then known, and won.

[4] As an outbreak of stabbings occurred, an October 1986 Newsweek magazine had a cover story on Eastham with title "America's Toughest Prison.

[13] In October 2000 David Stacks became the warden of Eastham; he introduced several voluntary rehabilitation programs to the unit.

"[14] As of 2010, the prison's agricultural operation, described by Perkinson as "massive," has 4,000 head of free-range cattle, 52,000 laying hens, 5,000 hogs, and 1,400 acres (570 ha) of field crops.

[17] Perkinson wrote that while the TDCJ and other agencies operate many types of prisons and jails in Texas, "if any unit stands for the rest," it would be Eastham.

Perkinson added that Eastham "typifies the rural isolation of most Texas lockups" and "binds present-day prisons to their unburied past.

"[4] Perkinson said that Eastham's "continuities were striking" and that the prison's daily rhythms, which originated from the 19th century, "scarcely changed.