The Old Fauquier County Jail, located in the Warrenton Historic District, is a singular example of the state’s early county penal architecture. The complex includes the 1808 brick jail, converted to the jailer’s residence and completed in 1823, and the parallel 1823 stone jail with its high-walled jail yard. Located next to the courthouse, the Old Fauquier County Jail provides a telling picture of conditions endured by inmates of such county facilities. A jail was built for the county in 1779, but it proved to be inadequate within a number of years. The more substantial brick structure was finished in 1808, and on October 24 of that year the keys to the new jail were turned over to the sheriff. With the completion of the stone jail and its plank-lined cells, the resulting two-part building served the county until 1966. The Old Fauquier County Jail complex is now maintained by the Fauquier County Historical Society as a county history museum.