The Lorton Reformatory, also known as the Lorton Correctional Complex, is a former prison complex in Lorton, Virginia, established in 1910 for the District of Columbia, United States.
The complex began as a prison farm called the Occoquan Workhouse for nonviolent offenders serving short sentences. The District established an adjacent reformatory in 1914, and then a walled penitentiary constructed by inmates from 1931 through 1938, as a division of the reformatory with heightened security. The complex came under the administration of the District of Columbia Department of Corrections when it was formed in 1946.
After further expansions, a peak size of , and 92 years of service, the facility was ordered closed in the late 1990s. The final prisoners were transferred out in November 2001.
Lorton was also the site of a bunker used by the government from 1959 to 2001 that housed emergency communications equipment to be used in the event of a war with the Soviet Union. Lorton Reformatory also hosted Nike missile site W-64.
History
Near the reformatory lies Revolutionary War patriot William Lindsay's c. 1790 estate known as Laurel Hill. This house served as a residence for the reformatory superintendent.
In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed a special Penal Commission to investigate deplorable conditions of the District of Columbia's jail and workhouse in Washington. As a result, the Commission recommended a complete change in the philosophy and treatment of prisoners in D.C. The United States Congress acted upon this recommendation, and a tract north of the Occoquan River was purchased in 1910 through condemnation proceedings.
District architect Snowden Ashford drew plans for the workhouse in 1910, while Leon E. Dessez was the special architect appointed by the commissioners to draft plans for the new workhouse. It opened in 1916 as a facility for less serious offenders in the Lorton Correctional Complex, with classically inspired, symmetrical dormitory complexes.
From 1911 the complex had its own railroad, the Lorton and Occoquan Railroad that operated until 1977.
From June to November 1917, a number of nationally prominent suffragists were arrested from their Silent Sentinels pickets of the White House at the White House, and held at the Occoquan Workhouse. Approximately 168 women, most from the National Women's Party, experienced mistreatment at the workhouse. Some were force-fed after they began hunger strikes. The night of November 14, 1917, is known as the "Night of Terror" because of how badly the suffragist prisoners were tortured, beaten, and abused. Portrayals of events at the Occoquan Workhouse played a key part in the 2004 film Iron Jawed Angels, a film about the history of the National Woman's Party, Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and other members of the 1910s Women's Voting Rights Movement.
The penitentiary buildings of the 1930s were constructed by the prisoners themselves, using brick manufactured at the on-site kiln complex from Occoquan River clay. Initially only the maximum security section was fenced, but fences were established for other sections in the 1970s due to area politicians calling for the closing of the prison and increased concerns over prison escapes.
The Youth Center, housing 18-22 year old prisoners, opened in 1960 and was established due to the post-World War II era anti-juvenile delinquency law Federal Youth Corrections Act of 1950. It was located next to the Fairfax County Landfill and in proximity to the prison's dairy farm. The initial concept was that the young prisoners could acquire a trade and/or get an education and then have their records expunged. Initially the prisoners carried books entitled "So We All Understand" and wore suits and ties. The building was designed to resemble a campus of a university, and it used open plan dormitories. At some point older adult felons began to be housed alongside the younger prisoners. Eddie Dean of the Washington City Paper stated that the center became "a sort of parody of its original inception". According to Dean, at one time it was the "murder capital" of Lorton, but by 1997 the Youth Center became "a relatively calm and safe compound, especially compared with the Quack."
It became known in its later years, however, as an outdated and badly overcrowded facility. The last prisoners were removed from Lorton Reformatory late in 2001. As a result of the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997, felons from the District of Columbia began going to Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities.