The King William County Historical Society successfully renovated the historic jail in the old King William Court House complex in 2013.
The jail was built in 1890. In 1940, it was used for county offices. In the 1980’s the offices were moved to the County’s administration building and the jail building remained vacant since then. The County replaced the roof on the jail after considerable water damage to the interior.
The Historical Society completed the remaining renovation work and now leases the jail from the County after successfully raising the funds to repair it.
Renovating the jail has many benefits to the citizens and KWCHS:
- The KWCHS uses one room for the storage of artifacts, which were previously stored in the basement of the museum.
- The KWCHS uses a second room as an historic library and research room.
- A third room is now a meeting room for KWCHS and a jury room when court is held in the old court house.
- Two of the bathrooms are now handicap accessible. They are usable by KWCHS and the public when events are held at the complex.
- With the completed renovation, the historic 1725-complex is again fully utilized and enjoyed by the citizens of the county.
