{"nrhp_refnum":"00000890","name":"Bruin's Slave Jail","other_names":["100-47"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1707 Duke St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Alexandria (Independent City)","county":"Alexandria","state":"VA","lat":38.804359601000044,"lon":-77.05863554799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-08-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Politics/Government","Black","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half-story brick Federal-style building at 1707 Duke Street in Alexandria, Virginia, constructed in 1819 (about 1819 per the significance statement) for John Longden, in the former West End village.","why_significant":"From 1844 the house was used by slave dealer Joseph Bruin as a holding facility or \"slave jail\" for enslaved people awaiting sale, and Harriet Beecher Stowe referred to it about twenty times in The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin. It also served as the Fairfax County courthouse under the Restored Government of Virginia from 1862 to 1865. It is an uncommon five-bay Federal dwelling in Alexandria and retains fabric reflecting its use as a slave jail.","narrative":"Built around 1819 for John Longden, this two-and-one-half-story brick house at 1707 Duke Street in Alexandria is a Federal-style survivor of the former West End village. It has a five-bay front, a double-pile center-hall plan, a gable roof and slender end chimneys. Later changes include Tuscan pilasters added to the entry in 1930, a cellar dug in 1931, and Victorian-era woodwork. In 1844 slave dealer Joseph Bruin bought the property and used it as a holding facility for enslaved people awaiting sale. Harriet Beecher Stowe cited the jail about twenty times in The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, including the story of the Edmondson family. Between 1862 and 1865, while Bruin was imprisoned, the building served as the Fairfax County courthouse under the Restored Government of Virginia. It is considered an uncommon local example of a five-bay Federal dwelling and a unique surviving slave jail in the United States.","period_of_significance":"1819-1865","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Early Republic: Federal","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Current functions are listed as commerce/trade: business; the building has been altered over time, including a 1931 cellar excavation and twentieth-century attic living space.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.844102-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/60/6794/41679460/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/00000890.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000890/c3027ee889-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000890/c3027ee889-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"The original uploader was Ser Amantio di Nicolao at English Wikipedia.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BruinsSlaveJail.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">The original uploader was Ser Amantio di Nicolao at English Wikipedia.</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BruinsSlaveJail.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679460","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruin%27s_Slave_Jail","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4978706"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/alexandria/bruins-slave-jail-00000890/"}