Exploring The Ohio State Reformatory: Part 2: The Prison

If you read the blog and saw the video for Part 1 you know that I covered the museum and Shawshank Redemption portion of The Ohio State Reformatory. In this part, we take you inside the cells of the prison - its history and the things we saw when we were there.

While visiting the reformatory we walked through the museum portion and then found ourselves in the best part - the prison. We walked down each of the six levels of cells, and saw what some of the cells looked like, we saw the library, the hospital, the chapel, and the shower room. Watch Garrett and me as we tour through the prison section of the reformatory below.

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The prison has a rich history from the time it was built to the time it closed in 1990. The reformatory was designed by Cleveland architect Levi Scofield who designed it with Queen Anne and gothic romantic influences. This place looks like a castle on the outside and the influences are clear to see inside and out. The reformatory was opened in 1896 after ten years of construction.

The reformatory was meant for non-violent, 1-time offenders. When these inmates arrived they would need to continue their education with many graduating with their high school degree. They would also need to learn a trade whether it be sewing, woodworking, or many other trades available. Finally, they would also need to work in their trade at the prison.

The reformatory was meant to "reform" these first-time offenders and make them better people than they were when they arrived. However, in the early 1960s, the financial support was pulled from the reform model and The Ohio State Reformatory was turned into a maximum security prison. It was never meant to be a maximum security prison and the inmates coming in weren't leaving better. There were first-time, non-violent offenders in prison cells with violent offenders who knew prison well; these first-time offenders were leaving with a blueprint for crime and partner in crime basically.

The reformatory fell into disrepair with inmates still living there; the lead paint started peeling off the walls, rats were crawling around, so many cock roaches were around that the walls were moving, and it was hard to easily heat/cool the prison. So they decided to condemn the building and build a new facility right behind the reformatory.

Now the reformatory is here for tours and for people to understand a large part of Mansfield history. It's more than just a creepy building (even though that creepiness makes it fun!). While we never came across any paranormal activity while touring the prison, the prison itself had a creepy feeling. The cells were small, cramped, and walking in where a criminal stayed felt a little eerie. The chapel, the hospital and the library all had the eerie feeling as well. I think the scariest part of the reformatory though was solitary confinement, it was so dark, chilly and felt immensely heavy.

The history is interesting and the reformatory provides hours of entertainment. I highly recommend visiting the reformatory if you like creepy, abandoned places and if you want to learn about a big part of Ohio's history.

Read more: The Ohio State Reformatory: Part 1

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