From the Bristol (Va. & Tenn.) News, 11/23/1880, p. 1, c. 4

Libby Prison
AN HISTORIC LANDMARK OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY SOLD.

On Thursday Libby Prison, in Richmond, Va., was sold at auction. Only a small crowd gathered around to witness the sale of the historic military prison of the Southern Confederacy. It was sold under a deed of trust, and the auctioneer stated that $5,100 in cash must, according to the terms of sale, be paid. The property was started at $5,500, and ran up to $6,000. The auctioneer stated that it cost $3,000 to drive the piles upon which the building was erected, and said that such was the value of the historic associations connected with this prison that it could be pulled down and the bricks sold at $1 a piece at the North, and as there were 240,000 bricks the building would bring $240,000.

The property was finally knocked down to Mr. James T. Gray, a young tobacconist of Richmond, Va., at $6,725. The building is now used as a tobacco factory. A part of the wall has been carried away, one brick at a time, by Northern tourists. The building and ground originally cost $18,000.

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