ACCOMAC, VA - A grant-funded restoration project of Debtor's Prison has begun in the town of Accomack.
Originally built as the town jailer's residence sometime between 1782 and 1784, the building was converted into a debtor's prison more than four decades later.
Debtors and minor offenders were incarcerated in this building until 1840. The prison has remained a historic landmark in Accomac, intermittently opening for educational purposes and celebratory events.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin announced in January that 35 projects in the commonwealth would receive awards through the Virginia 250 Preservation Fund, which aims to invest in and enhance the state's historic sites.
The town hired Landmark Preservation for the project. Co-owner John Ecker said his team is small but skilled in the methods and materials original to the 18th-century structure.
"All our limes, for example, all our mortars are actually the same historic materials they used 200 years ago," Ecker said. "The mortar is basically just lime and sand with crushed up oyster shell, and we're replicating that."
The team will work in phases, prioritizing the prison's exterior before winter.
"A lot of the materials we're using are temperature sensitive so the limes and paints and stuff we're using is affected by freeze and thaw," Ecker said.
Ecker expects restoration work to continue through Spring 2026. After completion, the local volunteer group Drummondtowne Preservation will begin programming out of the building.
"It's going to be our focal point for all kinds of things," Christopher Newman, a member of Drummondtowne, said.
The group hopes to host poetry readings, walking tours and school groups at the restored debtors prison.
"We do care and now that we're actually going to restore the inside, we're very excited to get in there and to get to know the artifacts," Newman said. "We just want to keep this building alive."