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Haunted places · Prisons, hospitals and asylums

The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield

When
since 1896 date from records made at the time
Where
Mansfield, Ohio, United States
Verdict
Legend

The castle-like prison made famous by “The Shawshank Redemption” operated for almost a century. Night tours hunt for the ghosts of inmates and a warden’s wife.

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40.79°, -82.51° · dimmed: other phenomena within 1,500 km

What happened

The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield took ten years to build, starting in 1886; the turreted, steep-roofed building, resembling a castle, was designed by architect Levi Scofield. Opened in 1896, it was meant to reform young, first-time offenders transferred from Columbus. Its east cell block, six tiers of steel cells, was among the largest in the world. Over time the institution became a maximum-security prison where inmates spent most of the day in cells about 8 by 5 feet. After the inmates won a lawsuit over conditions, the last prisoners were moved out on 31 December 1990. In 1993 “The Shawshank Redemption” was filmed here. Since 1995 the building has been in the care of a preservation society that runs night-time Ghost Walks and overnight ghost hunts. People tell of shadows in the cell blocks, the sound of chains dropping, voices and footsteps, of a boy beaten to death in the basement, and of Helen Glattke, the superintendent’s wife, who died after a handgun went off accidentally in the family’s quarters – her bathroom is said to smell of roses.

Witnesses

Guides, volunteers and participants in night sessions run by the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society; the building has featured in many television ghost-hunting programmes.

Explanations and hypotheses

According to the preservation society, more than 200 people died while the prison was in use, including guards killed during escape attempts, and Helen Glattke’s death is described in an official report. The ghost stories, however, come mainly from the society, which funds restoration with tickets for night tours, and they are anecdotal. Huge steel cell blocks, echoes and darkness encourage auditory illusions and suggestion. Sources even differ on the opening date (1886 is when construction began, 1896 when the first inmates arrived).

Legend A story handed down through generations – it can be neither confirmed nor disproved.

Sources

  1. Ohio Memory (Ohio History Connection) – Penalty and Incentive: The Ohio State Reformatory
  2. Ohio Magazine – Haunted Ohio: Ohio State Reformatory (Lindsey Sellman, 2020)
  3. The Ohio State Reformatory Preservation Society – Ghostly History of OSR

More: Wikipedia (en)