Lorton Prison History

For 91 years, Washington, DC, sent prisoners to Virginia. And the prison they built is still standing today.^{[1], [2]}

In 1908, a presidential commission condemned the conditions in DC's jails and workhouses. The solution was a new facility in Lorton, Virginia, where the first prisoners arrived in 1910.^{[1], [3]}

The original idea was radical for its time: no cells, no bars, and no locks. Instead, prisoners lived in open dormitories and were expected to reform through work.^[4]

They farmed thousands of acres, ran a dairy and cannery, and even made the prison's bricks themselves, firing clay from the Occoquan River in on-site kilns.^{[2], [1]}

Those bricks became the dormitories you can still see today.^[2]

But the experiment didn't last. In the 1930s, a walled penitentiary was added for more dangerous prisoners. Over the following decades, overcrowding and deteriorating conditions fueled riots and hostage incidents.^[1]

In 1986, a major riot broke out. By then, Lorton was a long way from its original vision of rehabilitation.^[1]

Congress ordered the complex closed in 1997. The last prisoner left in November 2001.^{[5], [2]}

Today, the former prison is the Workhouse Arts Center.^[2]