People have always been absolutely fascinated by prison culture. Just consider the success of television shows such as Prison Break, Oz, and Orange is the New Black. If you’ve watched any of their episodes, then you know how many criminals don’t believe that being locked up is reason enough to clean up their acts.
They continue to plot murders, steal from others, smuggle in drugs and weapons… the sweet talkers are even able to turn guards into accomplices. It seems that when you’re confined, hatching evil plans and finding loopholes in the prison system are great ways to kill some time.
Besides treachery and corruption, critics of America’s correctional system are also keen to point out other issues: security, rehabilitation, overcrowding, and so on. So if today’s penitentiaries are so less than perfect, just imagine what life was like in a colonial prison, like Williamsburg’s infamous Public Gaol.
Step into the shadows of this Williamsburg jail with Colonial Ghosts and experience its haunted history up close!
Who Haunts The Public Gaol In Williamsburg?
Dark and foreboding, the Public Gaol in Williamsburg was once home to some of the most dangerous and desperate souls. From ruthless pirates awaiting execution to thieves, runaway slaves, and even the mentally ill, this Williamsburg prison held those society had cast away. But just because their time ended doesn’t mean they ever truly left.
Visitors and historians whisper of phantom footsteps, shadowy figures, and chilling cries echoing through the old cells. Some claim the spirits of women inmates and tortured prisoners still linger, trapped in the very walls that confined them in life.
Who haunts the Public Gaol, and what eerie encounters have visitors experienced? Read on to uncover Williamsburg’s haunted past.
Public Gaol
In this two-story brick prison, located at the east end of the city, the incarcerated didn’t just wake up to austere and depressing cells. With fellow occupants including bloodthirsty pirates and traitors to the country, they were also often greeted by belligerent bunkmates itching for some conflict.
When Williamsburg became the capital of the Colony of Virginia in 1699, city officials realized that with economic growth comes crime; with heightened political activity, corruption. They thus reached out to the best building contractor in the state, Henry Cary, and authorized him to construct “a strong sweet prison” in August 1701.
Initial specifications for the gaol kept things small and simple, because it was not intended to house murderers, thieves, and other dangerous miscreants.
At its inception, then, the Public Gaol only had three rooms: two for inmates, and one for the gaoler. But officials soon realized that the city’s population of wrongdoers was larger than they’d estimated; a thirty by twenty foot building simply could not support all the runaway slaves, thieves, tories, and spies that had been sentenced to be put behind bars.
An exercise yard was therefore added in 1703, a “Debtor’s Prison” in 1711, and then a separate brick dwelling for the gaoler in 1722.
The Public Gaol Was An Inhumane Environment
Unfortunately, this Williamsburg prison failed to live up to its “strong and sweet” expectations despite all these additions.
The food was beyond terrible (soggy peas and overly salted beef, for instance); the cells were freezing (many inmates shivered to death); and the cleaning staff left much to be desired (“Gaol fever,” or typhus, plagued prisoners and jailers alike.)
One could argue that being placed in such an inhumane environment is a befitting punishment for evil pirates, especially those who served under the infamous Blackbeard.
The Public Gaol: Blackbeard
Before Edward Teach earned the title of Blackbeard and a reputation for terrorizing the seas, he was just a humble sailor. But things changed once he joined Benjamin Hornigold’s Flying Gang of pirates; he quickly learned the ways of the corsair and became one of the most feared pirates to roam colonial coastlines.
So when Blackbeard sailed the Queen Anne’s Revenge to the Carolinas, Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood was more than ready. He ordered Lieutenant Robert Maynard to engage and capture Blackbeard and his crew, but the pirate captain was unfortunately killed during the bloody hand-to-hand conflict that ensued.
Some say that the Governor had a pike fixed with Blackbeard’s skull displayed prominently on the banks of the Hampton River, to scare off other freebooters and prevent them from landing. As for Blackbeard’s fifteen henchmen who survived the struggle:
“Taken to Williamsburg to stand trial, they were held in the 1704 public “gaol” on Nicholson Street just north of the Capitol. At least some faced an admiralty court on March 12, when — according to the most cited source — one was acquitted, one pardoned, and the rest sentenced to hang.”
Governor Henry Hamilton
Another one of the jail’s most famous occupants was Governor Henry Hamilton. Hamilton’s ability to forge friendships with Indian chiefs had earned him two nicknames (which he detested): the “Scalptaker” and the “Hair-buyer General.”
There were rumors of Hamilton purchasing the scalps of dead settlers from Native American raid parties, so he was captured by Colonel George Rogers Clark in 1779 to face these allegations.
As he awaited trial, the poor Governor discovered that even political prominence does not exempt one from brutal treatment at the Public Gaol. He was barred from pen and paper, shackled in a tiny cell with six other criminals, and forced to eat disgusting prison food.
Mentally Ill
If this isn’t enough proof of injustice, consider the fact that many prisoners belonged in a hospital, not a jail! In fact, it was only in 1773 that Williamsburg saw its first public hospital open. Before colonists realized that there is a huge difference between lawbreakers and “lunaticks,” the mentally ill bunked with convicts.
“In Virginia, at least four or five persons were incarcerated in the Williamsburg prison in the 1760s.”
The jail also had a substantial female population; the ghosts of two women are rumored to still lurk in the gaoler’s upstairs quarters.
“The women’s animated conversations and the thumping of their heavy shoes are heard coming from the deserted room.”
No wonder the Public Gaol in Williamsburg is one of the most anticipated stops for fear fans exploring Williamsburg with Colonial Ghosts. It is as if the evil thoughts of criminals and the pain of the innocent have all seeped into the prison’s walls, where they remain well intact to this very day. One tourist recalls:
“I went in there and I felt really, really, like there was something wrong, like something’s in there. I walked in further and further until I got to the very end, where I could barely see the light coming out from the door I walked in. Then, I noticed the chains moving and the ball, because it’s the ball and chain that hangs on a wall, and I noticed it was moving, and I was like, that’s kinda cool.”
Enter the Public Gaol… if you dare!
Haunted Virginia
The Williamsburg jail has seen its fair share of darkness—Blackbeard’s henchmen awaiting their fate, some walking free while others met the hangman’s noose.
The restless spirits of prominent women inmates are said to drift through the halls; their stories etched into the very stone of the public jail in Williamsburg. And let’s not forget the lunatics once locked away here, their tortured minds leaving behind an energy that refuses to fade.
The inhumane environment, the cries of the innocent, and the heavy weight of misery and fear still cling to this eerie prison. Some say the spirits remain trapped, unable to move on—do you dare to step inside and see for yourself?
If you want more Williamsburg spooky stories, check out our blog! Or, if you’re brave enough to hear the chilling tales firsthand, book a ghost tour with Colonial Ghosts. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for more spine-tingling content!
Book a Williamsburg Tour and see for yourself
Our tour will take you on a leisurely stroll along the tree-lined cobbled streets of this beautiful and historic city. In around three-quarters of a mile on our standard tour, our entertaining and knowledgeable guide will regale you with stories of characterful spots in the Historic District of Williamsburg.
For those with an appetite for the terrifying, our extended tour will take in an additional haunted locations.
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Works Cited
- Tyler, Lyon Gardiner. Williamsburg, the Old Colonial Capital. Richmond: Whittet & Shepperson. 1907. Page 221.
- The John Hopkins University Press. Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America, Volume 1. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press. 2002. Page 591.
- Hauck, Dennis William. Haunted Places: The National Directory: Ghostly Abodes, Sacred Sites, UFO Landings, and Other Supernatural Locations. London: Penguin. 2002. Page 441.
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=79241
- http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/events/public-gaol-jail/
- https://research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/Foundation/journal/blackbea.cfm
- https://wydaily.com/latest/2021/10/08/oddities-curiosities-blackbeards-head-part-2/
- https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1f2fe45e2f7c4c1ebcf8c68db18753c6