Take a look at John Cotter's WALNUT STREET PRISON book. It is a prison and
not a jail but he (and one of his undergrad
students) found a very interesting pattern (pace Stanley South) of a
domestic site, rather than an institution, because of
the activities of the prisoners (food, making buttons etc.). If this
applies to a jail would depend on how long people were
kept there, what they did when in jail and the philosophy of imprisonment.

Were there also African American prisoners?
                                                         RLS


At 10:56 PM 7/30/2003 -0400, you wrote:
>Hello Listers:
>
>The foundations of two of the early jails were recently encountered during
>construction of a memorial wall on the grounds of the Chesterfield County
>Court House, Virginia.  Being the good researcher and steward of our
>historic resources I knew this construction was going to encounter them,
>and was able to monitor the work .  Until I had to go on vacation, that
>is.  It was during my absence, though, that the foundations were hit and
>someone else took pictures that I have yet to see.
>
>Needless to say, the county is very interested in learning more abut these
>foundations and even marking their locations as they are part of the deep
>history of the site, listed on the National Register.  The construction did
>very little damage, and I hope to be able to do a bit of archaeology in the
>near future to further explore the sites.  I am the one responsible for
>doing the interpretation of these sites, so I need to learn all about
>county jails and the archaeology of them.
>
>Two major foundations were found: 1) the granite foundation of a jail built
>in 1842 and taken down in 1892 (stone was reused for the "1892 Jail" we
>have in our collection of historic Buildings) and 2) the very stout brick
>foundation of a jail that mentioned in an 1805 survey.
>
>The 1842 - 1892 jail is somewhat well-documented, but for the earlier jail
>I am apparently the first to note its existence, as others never noted it
>or if they had seen the record they never plotted out the metes and bounds
>and thus never figured out its location!  Although we now refer to this new
>find as the "1805 Jail" it is likely that it was here earlier than that,
>perhaps back to near the founding of the County in 1749.
>
>The primary importance of this "1805" jail is that it may be the jail which
>housed a series of Baptist Ministers, including John Weatherford, in the
>early 1770s:
>http://www.wmbcrichmond.org/weatherford/weatherford.htm
>http://www.victorianvilla.com/sims-mitchell/local/articles/phsp/005/
>
>Bricks said to be of this Weatherford period jail were found in the 1930s
>when some landscaping was being done around the Baptist Preacher Monument
>on the Court House Grounds, and what was found just recently was but about
>30 feet from that spot (thus placing the monument just outside of the jail
>site!)
>
>The Court House Grounds and buildings are on the National Register of
>Historic Sites, and the grounds are sure to be loaded with all sorts of
>archaeological features, including the site of the pre-1749 tavern which
>was here before the roads were realigned to make the Court House Square,
>the various jails and other small outbuildings and stables, stocks or
>pillory, and a well, not to mention that Von Steuben had a massive
>encampment across the road in the Amer. Rev. and which the British burned
>with the Court House in 1781, and that the Court House was devastated in
>1865 after the fall of Richmond.  The hanging grounds with gallows and
>cemetery were next door, probably covered by the present administration
>buildings and police station!
>
>Has anyone done work on excavating similar situations?  How deep should I
>expect these foundations to go?  How thick are the walls?  Internal
>features to look for?  Size?  Artifacts?  Changes through time?
>
>This is a very rural location, but still the government center of the
>region, and the jails were only about 40 feet square, not like at
>Williamsburg, or a city penitentiary, but reference to research at such
>sites would be appreciated also.
>
>The 1892 Jail:
>http://members.aol.com/chesterfieldhs/jail.jpg
>
>         Dan W.
>         Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia

Robert L. Schuyler
University of Pennsylvania Museum
33rd & Spruce Streets
Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324

Tel: (215) 898-6965
Fax: (215) 898-0657
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