West Virginia Penitentiary

West Virginia · USA · Prison

The West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville was founded in 1866 and held prisoners until 1995. Over its 119 years as a prison the institution housed some of the state's most violent criminals, many of whom never left it alive.

Ninety-four men were executed here, by hanging or in the electric chair. The hangings were public until 1931, when a man was decapitated by the rope — after that, executions were "by invitation only". When the death penalty was reinstated in 1951, an inmate built the prison's electric chair himself; it was called "Old Sparky".

The prison ranks among the most haunted in the United States. The paranormal accounts go back to the 1930s, when night guards began to see prisoners walking freely in the yard and in sealed-off areas. Alarms were raised and guards mobilised — but no wandering prisoners were ever found. Most notorious is the "Shadow Man", a dark shadow figure who favours already shadowed corners and is so menacing that some merely sense where he is.

Visitors hear unseen people quarrelling and whispering, and feel ice-cold spots. In a cell in North Hall sat Red Snyder, stabbed to death by fellow inmates with 37 wounds; his spirit is said to linger and to reach out of the cell to seize those passing by. The prison was moreover built on the sacred burial mounds of the Adena people — one of the mounds still stands, and gave Moundsville its name.

Sources: Legends of America, usghostadventures.com, amyscrypt.com, Atlas Obscura

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Hvor ligger West Virginia Penitentiary?

West Virginia Penitentiary ligger i West Virginia, USA.

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Image: Rhonda Humphreys · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons