Historic Williamsburg

12. The Public Gaol

Williamsburg, VA

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The Public Gaol (pronounced "jail") was a prison used to hold criminals, debtors, runaway slaves, and sometimes even the mentally ill. These unlucky occupants were usually awaiting trial in the General Court. After conviction, punishment might have included branding, whipping, or even hanging. For example, a man caught stealing might be branded with the letter "T" to signify his crime. The gaol was commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly in 1701, and the construction contract was given to Henry Cary, the same man who built the Capitol and the College of William and Mary's Wren building. The floor of the 20 by 30 ft building was lined with a thick layer of timber to prevent prisoners from digging their way to freedom. It contained only two cells and an exercise yard, though two more debtors cells were added in 1711. Sometimes seven or more prisoners were held in one 10 by 10 ft cell, and had to share a single toilet. Needless to say, disease was rampant. The most notorious prisoners to be held at the Public Gaol were 15 henchmen of the Pirate Blackbeard, who had been captured in 1718. Blackbeard himself was beheaded by a British naval captain. Lieutenant governor of British Detroit, Henry Hamilton, was another noteworthy inmate. He was arrested on suspicion of buying the severed scalps of colonists from Indian tribes. The goal continued to be used as a prison until 1910. It was restored in 1936 during the Rockefeller reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg.