Existing comment:
Powhatan County Smokehouse:
This smokehouse, c 1820, is from a farm or plantation at Belona, Powhatan County. According to tradition, it was sometimes used as a slave jail. The massive construction, lack of windows, and door lock (the smaller door is not original and was added later) all suggest that it could have been used as a temporary jail until the accused were taken in custody to county officials. Of course, the main purpose of a smokehouse was to smoke hams. Smoked hams remain one of the foods most associated with Virginia. |