Lorton State Maximum Security Prison.
In 1908, President Roosevelt demanded an investigation of the deplorable conditions in the Washington, DC, jail and reformatory. In 1916, Congress allocated funds to build a new facility to be located on the Occoquan River, in Fairfax County, Va.

The reformatory section was to have "dorms" rather than cell blocks. There were "cafeterias" for the inmates, and courtyards. The bricks for the buildings were manufactured on site. The prisoner's constructed the buildings.

This vine clasps the side of the dorm, growing along a rusty window ledge. A moth clings, warming its wings in the morning sun.