Virginia State Penitentiary

Virginia State Penitentiary was a prison in Richmond, Virginia. Towards the end of its life it was a part of the Virginia Department of Corrections.

First opening in 1800, the prison was completed in 1804; it was built due to a reform movement preceding its construction.^[1] Thomas Jefferson initiated these reforms and submitted an initial design which was not constructed.^[2] The original building was the first American design of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who later designed the U.S. Capitol building.^[3] The prison began hosting executions on October 13, 1908.

In 1928 the original building was demolished and a new prison was erected on the same site in Richmond, just north of the James River. It expanded to occupy an entire campus of high-walled cellblocks and administrative buildings, in the block bordered by Byrd, Spring, Belvedere and South 2nd Streets. It once housed Virginia's men's death row and execution chamber in Building A.^[4]

The prison closed in 1991, and the execution chamber was moved to the Greensville Correctional Center near Jarratt. The Virginia State Penitentiary was demolished that year.^[5] The site is owned by Afton Chemical.

References[]

External links[]

• A Guide to the Records of the Virginia Penitentiary, 1796-1991 (bulk 1906-1970) - Library of Virginia, Accession # 41558

Coordinates: 37°32′22″N 77°26′53″W / 37.539428°N 77.448052°W / 37.539428; -77.448052

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