This Halloween, few attractions and events can live up to the experience offered at the Ohio State Reformatory. Touted as “The Night ‘They’ Came Home,” this $15 ticket lands you smack-dab in the middle of one of the most hunted places in Ohio. For many people, their only experience with the Reformatory is the images they’ve seen in films such as The Shawshank Redemption.
In the mid-1800s, Ohio was in desperate need of a new state prison, and plans were quickly made to use state owned land at the site of a former Civil War Camp. Construction began on the Ohio State Reformatory in 1886, though the Levi T. Scofield designed prison wasn’t officially finished until 1910. Scofield drew inspiration from medieval European castles, using large arched windows and huge stone blocks. The building was once of the best examples of institutional Gothic Revival architecture in the country, and still has the only six story free standing cell block, the largest one ever built.
Ten years after Scofield started his plans, the doors to the Ohio State Reformatory opened. The state shipped 150 criminals to the prison on September 17, 1896 despite the prison not yet completed. For the first few years after opening, prisoners sent to Mansfield helped finish the prison, working to create the sewer system, and finishing the security wall that encloses the prison.
The prisoners at the Ohio State Reformatory began outgrowing the buildings rather quickly. Inmates were tightly packed together, with as many as four men in a single cell. Eventually the prison was barred from holding inmates. One of the last things held at the area before the Reformatory was closed, was filming of the hit Hollywood movie The Shawshank Redemption. The state decided to demolish part of the Reformatory to make extra room for the Mansfield Correctional Institute. Not long after doing that, the state gave the property to private historic preservation group.
The Ohio State Reformatory is rumored to be one of the most haunted places in the world, with over 200 deaths recorded there. Some of those that died inside were prisoners, while others were guards and prison workers. Haunted places inside include the chapel, solitary confinement, and the warden’s quarters. Supposedly the warden’s wife was accidentally killed when his gun discharged in their living quarters. People have smelled the scent of her rose perfume, and occasionally heard her talking. The smell of the warden’s cigar has also been experienced here, as has the sounds of the couple arguing.
There is also a cell where visitors have reported hearing the sounds of someone running down the hall before loudly slamming the cell door closed. Others have claimed to smell odd scents in the Reformatory, and feel hands pushing them from behind. There are also reports of footsteps, strange shadows, and voices inside the Reformatory.
Since taking over ownership of the building, the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society has offered haunted tours of the building. The tour provides drinks, pizza, and the chance to wander through the prison from 8 am-sun up. Tours are limited to those 21 years of age and older, and is priced at $50 per person.
For more information, or to book a tour of your own, visit the Society’s website at
