Public Gaol

Public Gaol is at 461 E. Nicholson St. at the Colonial Williamsburg Historic Area, off I-64 exit 238. This 1704 jail with later additions is completely restored and includes an early form of indoor plumbing and cells for criminals. Its most infamous occupants were 15 of the pirate Blackbeard’s henchmen, caught in 1718, and Henry “Hair Buyer” Hamilton, a British lieutenant governor who allegedly offered bounties for patriots’ scalps.