The 4,355-acre (1,762 ha) prison is located on Farm to Market Road 247, near Midway and 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Huntsville.

[1] Jack D. Kyle, the warden of Ferguson, supervised the construction of the current facility, which began in the fall of 1959.

Prisoners came from all over the state, with various economic levels, urban and rural locations, and troubled and un-troubled upbringings represented.

[4] The Ferguson unit, a red brick facility, is located in a woodland.

In 1965, Bob Johnson of the Houston Post said that Ferguson, "at first glance, looks like it might be a small agricultural college" except that the presence of barbed wire demonstrates that the facility is a prison.