Built in Warrenton in 1808, the sixth jail in

Fauquier County, Virginia Fauquier is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,972. The county seat is Warrenton. Fauquier County is in Northern Virginia and is a part of the Washington metropolitan area. History In 16 ...

ran for only fifteen years before a new jail was erected behind it after a lawsuit with the Commonwealth of Virginia. In those fifteen years the four-cell jail saw death and disease from neglectful conditions. Soon after the 1823 jail was constructed, the 1808 jail was transformed into a jailer's house, so that he and his family could move in and care for the prisoners. A two-story sandstone addition was added onto the original brick structure to serve as a kitchen and second floor bedroom. It was operated as a jail until 1966, when the Fauquier Historical Society saved it from demolition and created a museum. The museum was known as The Old Jail Museum before it was rebranded as the Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail in 2014. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1978. The first

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...

of criminals condemned to suffer

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

in Virginia since the passage of the law, by the last General Assembly, requiring the sentence to be executed in private, occurred at the jail on July 11, 1879.

References

External links

Fauquier History Museum at the Old Jail Site
- official website History museums in Virginia Jails on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Government buildings completed in 1808 Buildings and structures in Fauquier County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Fauquier County, Virginia Museums in Fauquier County, Virginia Jails in Virginia 1808 establishments in Virginia {{Virginia-museum-stub