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
  1. "History." Virginia Department of Corrections. Retrieved on July 13, 2016.
  2. "In new book, VCU alumnus reveals 190-year history of Richmond's notorious, iconic Virginia State Penitentiary". Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  3. Richardson, Selden. "The Virginia Penitentiary". Shockoe Examiner - Richmond VA history blog. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  4. Edds, Margaret. An Expendable Man: The Near-Execution of Earl Washington, Jr.. NYU Press, October 1, 2006. ISBN 0814722393, 9780814722398. p. 4.
  5. Richardson, Selden. The Tri-State Gang in Richmond: Murder and Robbery in the Great Depression (True Crime Series). The History Press, 2012. ISBN 1609495233, 9781609495237. p. 203.

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