The Ohio State Reformatory

Ohio · United States · Manor

A former prison at Mansfield, now a museum and a location for The Shawshank Redemption, opened at Halloween as a haunted attraction.

The Ohio State Reformatory at Mansfield operated as a prison for most of a century and is now a museum and a tourist attraction. Parts of The Shawshank Redemption were filmed inside it, which is why the building is recognisable to people who have never heard of it.

At Halloween it is opened as a haunted house, which puts it in an unusual position: a real institution where real people died, run commercially as a fright attraction.

What visitors report happens at any hour rather than only at night, and it concentrates in particular parts of the building. The east cell block is the tallest free standing steel cell block in the world, six tiers of it, and it is where most accounts come from.

The reformatory closed under a federal court order over the conditions inside it. That is worth knowing before walking through it in October.

FAQ

Where is The Ohio State Reformatory located?

The Ohio State Reformatory is in Ohio, United States.

More haunted places in Ohio

• Franklin Castle Ohio · House
• Ohio State Reformatory Ohio · Prison
• New Washington Cemetery Ohio · Haunted site
• Fort Hayes Ohio · Castle
• The old Wayne County Jail Ohio · Hotel
• Brubaker Bridge Ohio · Bridge
• Screaming Bridge, Maud Hughes Road Ohio · School
• Gretchen's Lock Ohio · Haunted site

Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.

Image: ianloic / CC BY-SA 2.0 via flickr