The Prison of the Virginia Colony, 1701, Williamsburg
Additional Details:
| Built about 1701 by the colony, this building would correspond with the state penitentiary of today. Here Henry Hamilton, English governor of Detroit, was imprisoned. Blackbeard's pirates were also imprisoned here and, later, hanged. The Reverend Hugh Jones, writing of the Capitol in 1724, said "Near it is a strong, sweet prison for criminals and on the other side of an open court another for Debtors when any are removed thither from other prisons in each county." The building is owned by the City of Williamsburg. The surrounding land is owned by the Society of the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. |
