The structure that stands today in central Accomac, not far from the Accomack County Courthouse, is the last survivor of a complex which initially included both a jail and a jailyard. In 1775 the Accomack County court ordered a committee to "plan and lay off a Draught for a new prison for this County.[2]" Construction was completed on the building itself in 1782, in which year an inspection committee approved of it, but recommended "that a suitable wall made of Brick around the Gaol at a convenient distance is absolutely necessary and that there ought to be a small house built at the public expense in one corner and adjoining the said wall for the residence of the jailor, without which we are of opinion that the prisoners cannot be kept in perfect security.[2]" The county accepted these additions to the complex in 1784. In 1969 archaeological work was undertaken by the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission in the vicinity of the debtors' prison. This revealed that the complex as completed in 1784 was seventy feet square and contained within a brick wall. The jail was in the northeast corner of the square; the surviving jailor's house formed part of the yard's south wall, and was located at the west corner.[2] The contractor for the initial construction project was listed as one Selby Simpson.[7]
Closeup of the front of the prison building showing the latticed windows and heavy oak door
By the first decades of the nineteenth century the jailer's house was already sorely in need of repair, and consequently the county began to study the possibility of finding an alternative use for the property. At around the same time a state law had been passed requiring provision of separate facilities for debtors and felons. Thus, in 1824 a committee that was set up by the county court reminded that body that the law did not actually require the county to provide quarters for a jailer; furthermore, such an arrangement was highly unusual, if not unheard-of, in any other county in Virginia. Consequently, it was recommended that the house be reappropriated and reconfigured to serve as a debtors' prison, especially as it was thought that the proximity of the jailor's house to the jail posed a security risk. The committee held that little work needed to be done to convert the jail to its new purpose, saying "that iron bars to the windows of inch iron and oak Batton doors to be hung outside, is all that is necessary to be done to the said house, to answer the purposes intended, because it is believed that debtors have no inducement to brake [sic] prison, the Law authorizes them with little trouble to discharge themselves whenever they wish so to do.[2]" The conversion was finished quickly,[8] and the house served in its new capacity until 1849,[4] when imprisonment for debt was discontinued in Virginia. The old jail and wall were demolished by the county in 1909; the debtors' prison was turned over to the Drummondtown Branch of Preservation Virginia (formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities). That organization undertook a partial renovation of the property in 1911, revisiting it for a fuller restoration in 1953. From 1911 until 1927 the building was used as a library; today it is a museum of local history,[2] and is furnished to represent a typical middle class home of the eighteenth century.[9] The Accomac debtors' prison was surveyed by the Historic American Buildings Survey between 1958[2] and 1961, when it was found to be in good condition; the formal report was placed on file in 1961.[7] The building is open by appointment.
Design
Physically, the debtors' prison is a small building, measuring 18' by 30'; it is one story in height, three bays in length, and constructed of Flemish bond brick with glazed headers. Originally, the house formed the southwest corner of a 70-foot-square jailyard, and a small portion of the yard's original brick wall can still be seen projecting from the northeast corner of the building. A scar left by another portion of the same wall still exists on the northwest corner of the façade. Both ends, and the south façade of the house, are fitted with a two-course stepped water table; none is employed on the front wall, which at one time faced onto the jailyard. At the east end of the house is an exterior end chimney, while the west end has an interior one. Today the window openings, which do not have shutters,[7] are equipped with modern nine-over-nine sash, but they retain certain trappings of the building's conversion in 1824, including the iron lattice covering; also dating to the same time are the structure's heavy batten doors. Two windows, one at the east end and one on the south façade, were bricked up in the twentieth century. The same century saw the addition of a box cornice and slate roof to the house.[2] Only one outbuilding, a small wooden shed, was documented on the property by HABS.[7]
View of the back of the prison
The interior plan of the house is typical of a small hall-and-parlor dwelling of its era, containing two rooms on the main level and a further two in the attic.[7] The east room is the larger of the two on the main floor; in its southeast corner is an enclosed staircase which rises to the garrett. The fireplace is treated with plain boards, which have been lapped in a way that is meant to recall a crossett surround; similar treatment of the chimneybreast can be found in the west room, which is otherwise unembellished. A framed partition separates the two rooms, and is covered on both sides with horizontal beaded sheathing.[2] The whole interior is fitted with diagonal board doors. The HABS investigation found that some refitting and redesigning of the interior rooms had taken place, but that finding out what changes were involved would have required significant removal of interior fittings; in addition, there was much evidence of repair, but little of outright alteration.[7]
Significance
The Accomac debtors' prison is significant for a number of reasons; chief among them is that it is the oldest municipal building still standing in Accomack County. In addition, it is a rare survivor of its type, and well illustrates the typical eighteenth-century penal building once common in Virginia.[2]
Bibliography
Heite, Edward E., "Excavation of the Accomack Jailyard Wall," Quarterly Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Virginia, 26 (1972).
Whitelaw, Ralph T., "Accomack County Debtors' Prison," 1946, ms. in possession of Drummondtown Branch of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities
Tappahannock is the oldest town in Essex County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,375 at the 2010 census, up from 2,068 at the 2000 census. Located on the Rappahannock River, Tappahannock is the county seat of Essex County. Its name comes from an Algonquian language word lappihanne, meaning "Town on the rise and fall of water" or "where the tide ebbs and flows." The Rappahannock is a tidal estuary from above this point and downriver to its mouth on Chesapeake Bay.
A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. Until the mid-19th century, debtors' prisons were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe. Destitute people who were unable to pay a court-ordered judgment would be incarcerated in these prisons until they had worked off their debt via labour or secured outside funds to pay the balance. The product of their labour went towards both the costs of their incarceration and their accrued debt. Increasing access and lenience throughout the history of bankruptcy law have made prison terms for unaggravated indigence obsolete over most of the world.
Founded in 1889, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities was the United States' first statewide historic preservation group. In 2003 the organization adopted the new name APVA Preservation Virginia to reflect a broader focus on statewide Preservation and in 2009 it shortened its name to Preservation Virginia. Preservation Virginia owns historic sites across Virginia including Historic Jamestowne, located at Jamestown, Virginia, site of the first permanent English settlement in North America, and the Cape Henry Light house, one of the first public works projects of the United States of America.
Buildings, sites, districts, and objects in Virginia listed on the National Register of Historic Places:
Green Springs National Historic Landmark District is a national historic district in Louisa County, Virginia noted for its concentration of fine rural manor houses and related buildings in an intact agricultural landscape. Admitted to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, it became the first rural National Landmark Historic district. Named for one of the historic manor houses, the district comprises 14,000 acres (5,700 ha) of fertile land, contrasting with the more typical poor soil and scrub pinelands surrounding it.
Historic Jamestown is the cultural heritage site that was the location of the 1607 James Fort and the later 17th-century town of Jamestown in America. It is located on Jamestown Island, on the James River at Jamestown, Virginia, and operated as a partnership between Preservation Virginia and the U.S. National Park Service as part of Colonial National Historical Park.
The Lancaster County Jail is a historic former jail building at 208 West Gay Street. Built in 1823, it is a virtually unaltered work of the noted early American architect Robert Mills, and reflects innovative changes in jail design promoted by him. It is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1973.
The Burlington County Prison is a historic museum property, located next to the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. Operating from 1811 to 1965, it was the oldest prison in the nation at the time of its closure. Designed by Robert Mills, its design exemplified period thinking in progressive prison design, with individual cells, good ventilation, and fireproof construction. Now operated by a local nonprofit as a museum, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
The John Marshall House is a historic house museum and National Historic Landmark at 818 East Marshall Street in Richmond, Virginia. It was the home of Chief Justice of the United States and Founding Father John Marshall, who was appointed to the court in 1801 by President John Adams and served for the rest of his life, writing such influential decisions as Marbury v. Madison (1803) and McCulloch v. Maryland (1819).
The Old York Gaol is a former colonial prison at Lindsay Road and Main Street in York, Maine. Its oldest portion dating to about 1720, it is one of the oldest prison buildings in the United States, and one of the oldest public buildings in the state of Maine. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968. It is owned by the Museums of Old York and is open for tours between May and October.
Bristol County Jail is a historic jail at 48 Court Street in Bristol, Rhode Island, and home to the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society.
The Debtors' Prison is a historic debtors' prison building located in Worsham, Virginia. Constructed in 1787, it is one of three such prisons, all listed on the National Register of Historic Places, remaining in Virginia; the other two are in Accomac and Tappahannock. Of the three, only the one in Worsham was constructed of wood. It is the oldest surviving public building in Prince Edward County, and dates to the time when Worsham was the county seat.
The Debtors' Prison in Tappahannock, Virginia, is a historic debtors' prison dating back to the 18th century. Constructed sometime before 1769, it is one of three such structures remaining in Virginia, along with those in Accomac and Worsham. In the early 19th century, the practice of imprisoning debtors was abolished, marking a significant shift in societal attitudes towards debt and punishment. By 1820, the former prison had undergone a transformation, being repurposed into a residential space. The prison building is a contributing structure to the Tappahannock Historic District, and as such was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
Wessells Root Cellar is a small brick structure near Hallwood, Accomack County, Virginia. The root cellar was built sometime after 1768 by William Vessells as a structure separate from the main house, which burned in 1937. The cellar is of fine quality and has remained in the Wessells family for more than two hundred years. A decorative header pattern in the gable using overfired brick is an unusual detail.
St. James Church is a historic Episcopal Church on Drummondtown Road near Back Street in Accomac, Virginia, United States. Originally established as a chapel of ease for Accomack Parish in the seventeenth century, the present St. James Church was erected in 1838 as the town then known as Drummondtown grew as the county seat. In recognition of its Greek Revival design and interior trompe-l'oeil frescos, St. James Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. It is also a contributing building of the Accomac Historic District which was created in 1992.
The old Essex County Jail is located in the University Heights section of Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The jail is Essex County's oldest public building and a national landmark of value for its architectural and social history. The complex consists of about 20 structures of various size, age, and function ranging in date from the 1830s to 1930s. Collectively, they represent the evolution of American prison history over 100 years. For the quality of its architecture, its social history, and its links to the 1967 Newark Riots, this jail was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 3, 1991. The site has been abandoned since 1971 and remains property of the City of Newark.
The Northampton County Courthouse Historic District is a nine-acre historic district in Northampton County, Virginia. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Three buildings are located on the property: A courthouse and a clerk's office, and a prison. The buildings house documents dating back to 1632. It is included in the Eastville Historic District.
Bowman's Folly, is a historic home located near Accomac, Accomack County, Virginia. Captain Edmund Bowman patented the land in 1664, the current structure was built about 1815 by General John Cropper Jr., who had been born in the house in 1755. Cropper ordered it demolished and a grander building erected after construction of a hill to allow better vistas during the War of 1812. The current building has a 2+1⁄2-story, main block with a 1+1⁄2-story wing. The main block has brick ends with interior end chimneys and frame fronts on the north and south. It has a64 gable roof with dormers. The front facade features a Palladian window and pedimented entrance porch. Also on the property are a frame kitchen, now connected to the main house by a hyphen; frame dovecote, and frame privy.
Accomac Historic District is a national historic district located at Accomac, Accomack County, Virginia. The district encompasses 158 contributing buildings in the town of Accomac, mainly grouped into two periods of construction. From its founding in 1786 through the second quarter of the nineteenth century, several residential, commercial, governmental, and religious structures were built in the core of Accomac, representing both high-style and vernacular examples of late Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival styles. Notable structures surviving from this period include the rectory of St. George's Episcopal Parish ; the Seymour House (1791-1815); Roseland (1750-1850); Seven Gables (1786-1905); Rural Hill, and the Francis Makemie Presbyterian Church (1840). The second period of construction reflected in the town dates to the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when the arrival of the New York, Philadelphia, and Norfolk Railroad spawned renewed growth and economic prosperity in Accomack County following the Civil War. These buildings also display both high-style and vernacular expressions of Victorian Era styles, including Second Empire, Italianate, Gothic Revival, and Romanesque. Notable structures from this time period include Bayly Memorial Hall, the County Clerk's Office (1887), the Accomack County Courthouse (1899), and houses found in the Lilliston Avenue extension of the town built in the 1880s-1890s. There are also contributing structures dating from the first quarter of the twentieth century, including the Drummondtown Baptist Church (1914), Drummondtown United Methodist Church (1920), and the former hotel at the town square (1925).
Tappahannock Historic District is a national historic district located at Tappahannock, Essex County, Virginia. It encompasses 14 contributing buildings dating from the 18th through late-19th centuries. They are the Customs House, Scot's Arms Tavern, Five Cents and Dollar Store, Ritchie House, Beale Memorial Baptist Church, Old Clerk's Office, Essex County Court House, Debtor's Prison, Henley House, Anderton House, Brockenbrough House, St. Margaret's Hall, Roane-Wright House, and St. John's Episcopal Church (1837-1849).
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