Prison Break, Sona Prison & Fort Worth's Stockyard Ruins

You're looking at Panama's Sona Prison in the pictures. Sona Prison is located in the ruins at the east side of the Fort Worth Stockyards.

The Stockyard Ruins were used as a set for the defunct FOX TV show called Prison Break.

A long time ago I'd made a webpage about the Stockyard Ruins. I'd never seen such a thing as the Stockyard Ruins in a city. Visually the ruins are very interesting, as if you're looking at a WWII bombed out city.

Recently there has been talk of fixing up the Stockyard Ruins and turning them into some sort of mixed used development, making the ruins stable and safe. I really can't see that happening.

So, this morning I got an email from a Fort Worth native named Hailey. Hailey, bless her heart, had seen my webpage about the Stockyard Ruins and she earnestly wanted to let me know that the Stockyards Ruins weren't really the site of a Panamanian Prison.

Below is Hailey's email....

Hello,
My Name is Hailey and I am a local resident of Fort Worth [born and raised]. I came across your webpage about the ruins of the stock yards, particularly the ruins of the swift and armor meat packing plant. "And now rumor has it that the Stockyards Ruins are being used as a prison, housing mostly Panamanian prisoners and a few Americans. The prison is called Sona. We discovered the prison on Thursday, November 1, 2007....."

I just thought that you would like to know that this rumored information is completely false. In 2007 The hit TV show Prison Break used the ruins as a set for several episodes, in fact the guard towers that line the edge of the property were erected by the set crew of the TV show and are not actually an original part of the property. The Prison Break producers also used locations in Decatur, Texas, mainly in the old town square. I just though you would like to know that what you saw was the filming of a TV show, not an actual secret prison. =)

-Sincerely
Hailey

Thank you very much for being sincere, Hailey. I appreciate it.