Guard Tower at Lorton Prison (8904432591)

The Lorton Reformatory, also known as the Lorton Correctional Complex, is a former prison complex in

Lorton, Virginia Lorton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 18,610 as of the 2010 census. History Lorton is named for a village in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, in England. Joseph Plasket ...

, established in 1910 for the District of Columbia, United States. The complex began as a prison farm called the Occoquan Workhouse for non-violent offenders serving short sentences. The District established an adjacent reformatory in 1914, and then a walled penitentiary constructed by inmates from 1931 through 1938, as a division of the reformatory with heightened security. The complex came under the administration of the District of Columbia Department of Corrections when it was formed in 1946. After further expansions, a peak size of , and 92 years of service, the facility was ordered closed in the late 1990s. The final prisoners were transferred out in November 2001. Lorton was also the site of a bunker used by the government from 1959 to 2001 that housed emergency communications equipment to be used in the event of a war with the Soviet Union. Lorton Reformatory also hosted Nike missile site W-64.

History

Near the reformatory lies Revolutionary War patriot William Lindsay's circa 1790 estate known as Laurel Hill. This house served as a residence for the reformatory superintendent. In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed a special Penal Commission to investigate deplorable conditions of the District of Columbia's jail and workhouse in Washington. As a result, the Commission recommended a complete change in the philosophy and treatment of prisoners in D.C. The United States Congress acted upon this recommendation, and a tract north of the Occoquan River was purchased in 1910 through condemnation proceedings. District architect

Snowden Ashford Snowden Ashford (1866–1927) was an American architect who worked in Washington, D.C., his native city. Born on January 1, 1866, Ashford was educated at Rittenhouse Academy and at the Christian Brothers Roman Catholic school. He studied archit ...

drew plans for the workhouse in 1910, while

Leon E. Dessez Leon Emil Dessez (April 12, 1858 – December 25, 1918) was an American architect in Washington D.C. He designed public buildings in Washington D.C. and residences in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, including some of the first in Chevy C ...

was the special architect appointed by the commissioners to draft plans for the new workhouse. It opened in 1916 as a facility for less serious offenders in the Lorton Correctional Complex, with classically inspired, symmetrical dormitory complexes. From 1911 the complex had its own railroad, the

Lorton and Occoquan Railroad The Lorton and Occoquan Railroad (L&O) was a seven-mile railroad line running between the District of Columbia-operated Lorton Reformatory prison in Lorton, Virginia, and the wharf at Occoquan, Virginia, across the Occoquan River separating Fairf ...

that operated until 1977. From June to November 1917, a number of nationally prominent

suffragists Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

were arrested from their " Silent Sentinels" pickets of the White House at the White House, and held at the Occoquan Workhouse. Approximately 168 women, most from the National Women's Party, experienced mistreatment at the workhouse. Some were force-fed after they began hunger strikes. The night of November 14, 1917, is known as the " Night of Terror" because of how badly the suffragist prisoners were tortured, beaten, and abused. Portrayals of events at the Occoquan Workhouse played a key part in the 2004 film '' Iron Jawed Angels'', a film about the history of the National Woman's Party,

Alice Paul Alice Stokes Paul (January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977) was an American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the main leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ...

, Lucy Burns, and other members of the 1910s Women's Voting Rights Movement. The penitentiary buildings of the 1930s were constructed by the prisoners themselves, using brick manufactured at the on-site kiln complex from Occoquan River clay. Initially only the maximum security section was fenced, but fences were established for other sections in the 1970s due to area politicians calling for the closing of the prison and increased concerns over prison escapes.Shin, Annys.
Ten Things to Do Before Closing a Prison

Archive
. '' Washington City Paper''. March 9, 2001. Retrieved on February 5, 2016. The Youth Center, housing 18-22 year old prisoners, opened in 1960 and was established due to the post- World War II era anti-juvenile delinquency law Federal Youth Corrections Act of 1950. It was located next to the Fairfax County Landfill and in proximity to the prison's dairy farm. The initial concept was that the young prisoners could acquire a trade and/or get an education and then have their records expunged. Initially the prisoners carried books entitled "So We All Understand" and wore suits and ties. The building was designed to resemble a campus of a university, and it used open plan dormitories. At some point older adult felons began to be housed alongside the younger prisoners. Eddie Dean of the '' Washington City Paper'' stated that the center became "a sort of parody of its original inception".Dean, Eddie.
Maximum Insecurity

Archive
. '' Washington City Paper''. June 6, 1997. Retrieved on February 5, 2016. According to Dean, at one time it was the "murder capital" of Lorton, but by 1997 the Youth Center became "a relatively calm and safe compound, especially compared with the Quack." It became known in its later years, however, as an outdated and badly overcrowded facility. The last prisoners were removed from Lorton Reformatory late in 2001. As a result of the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997, felons from the District of Columbia began going to Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities. On July 15, 2002, the property was sold to Fairfax County. The transfer was enabled by the Lorton Technical Corrections Act passed by Congress in October 1998. It required the county to develop a plan to maximize use of land for open space, parkland or recreation prior to the transfer. The site has been part of the D.C. Workhouse and Reformatory Historic District since February 16, 2006.

Cultural Arts Center

In 2002, The Lorton Arts Foundation sought to reuse the property of the former prison. The idea was to reconstruct and repair the prison facility and transform it into a Cultural Arts Center, to be known as the

Workhouse Arts Center The Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia is a vibrant, 55-acre center for the arts and arts education that, through adaptive reuse, utilizes existing structures on repurposed land in the former Lorton Reformatory. A strong community partner ...

. Of course, much had to be altered to serve in such a capacity. In 2004, approval from The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors allowed the project to get under way. Soon after the decision was made to repurpose the land and old historic buildings, restoration began. Walls were repaired, rooms were completely cleared, and the tall fences around the property were taken down. In 2008, the Arts Center was ready to be used by the public after four years to build and restore six separate buildings, transforming them into headquarters for hobbies and activities of all types. Ceramics, photography, painting, theatre, film and much more is now offered and accessible by the public within the center. Classes are offered in most or all of the categories offered. The Arts Center also houses famous pieces of art by local and renown artists. Well-known artists have visited the center to teach and to present their work. With over 800 different art classes offered, this has become a popular destination for the aspiring artist. Along with the Workhouse Arts Center, the former prison yard has now become home to baseball and soccer fields. With much ground still available, plans are in place to add more athletic fields. Many attend a yearly walk through the old grounds, and stages have been set up to host local theater organizations. Walk-throughs and tours were offered before the restoration began in 2004 to view rooms such as the cafeteria, Warden's office, shower room, and cell dorms. Guard towers still surround the grounds.

Lucy Burns Museum

A museum in honor of suffragist Lucy Burns from the National Woman's Party opened in 2020. The Museum hosts celebrations for Women's Equality Day each year in August.

Notable prisoners

* Chuck Brown, musician, 1950s * Lucy Burns, suffragist and women's rights advocate, 1917 * Iris Calderhead, suffragist and women's rights advocate, 1917 * Petey Greene, television and radio talk-show host, 1960s *

Alison Turnbull Hopkins Alison Turnbull Hopkins (May 20, 1880 – March 18, 1951) was an American suffrage activist, known as one of the Silent Sentinels for her protests at the White House. Personal life Alison Low Turnbull was born in 1880 in Morristown, New Jersey, ...

, suffragist and women's rights activist, 1917 * Laura Houghtaling Ingalls, aviator and Nazi agent, 1943 *

Paula O. Jakobi Paula O. Jakobi (1870 – July 12, 1960) was an American suffragist and playwright. Career and activism Jakobi was a suffrage leader in New York City, affiliated with the National Woman's Party. She organized an event at Cooper Union in 1914, ...

, suffragist and women's rights activist, 1917 * Dora Lewis, suffragist and women's rights activist, 1917 *

George Gordon Liddy George Gordon Battle Liddy (November 30, 1930 – March 30, 2021) was an American lawyer, FBI agent, talk show host, actor, and convicted felon in the Watergate scandal as the chief operative in the White House Plumbers unit during the Nixon ...

, FBI agent, lawyer, talk show host, actor, and burglar, 1973–1977 *

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...

, novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, film-maker, actor, and liberal political activist; included in his book ''

Armies of the Night ''The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel/The Novel as History'' is a nonfiction novel recounting the October 1967 March on the Pentagon written by Norman Mailer and published by New American Library in 1968. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Gen ...

''; briefly, in 1967? *

Anne Henrietta Martin Anne Henrietta Martin (September 30, 1875 – April 15, 1951) (pseudonym, Anne O'Hara; nickname, Little Governor Anne) was a suffragist, pacifist, and author from the state of Nevada. Her main achievement was taking charge of the state legislatio ...

, suffragist and women's rights activist, 1917 *

, suffragist and women's rights activist, 1917 * Elizabeth Selden Rogers, suffragist and education advocate, 1917 * Doris Stevens, suffragist, author, and women's rights activist, 1917 * Betty Gram Swing, suffragist and women's rights activist, 1917 *

Amelia Himes Walker Amelia "Mimi" Himes Walker (July 24, 1880 - July 19, 1974) was an American suffragist and women's rights activist. Walker was one of the Silent Sentinels who picketed outside of the White House for women's right to vote. She was arrested in 1917 ...

, suffragist and women's rights activist, 1917 * Ruza Wenclawska, suffragist, factory inspector, trade union organizer, actress, and poet, 1914

History

Cultural Arts Center

Lucy Burns Museum

Notable prisoners

See also

References

Further reading