History
Nearly 130 years old the Ohio State Reformatory, also known as the Mansfield Reformatory, now holds tours for people to explore the halls of the old reformatory. The building is home to the world's largest free-standing cell block and has been the location of many fights and even one inmate setting himself on fire in his cell and another inmate drowning in the basement. The building was the location where the movie Shawshank Redemption was filmed. The cells were always overcrowded and at one point the prisoners were held in the overheated and cramped attic, where you can still find the things the inmates drew on the walls. Some prisoners were reported to go crazy in the isolation rooms.Another casualty in the building was that of the warden’s wife who knocked a gun off a shelf, setting it off and accidentally shooting herself. The warden ended up having a heart attack in the building and many prisoners received the electric chair there. And, over the years many prisoners died of influenza, tuberculosis, and various other diseases as well as natural causes.
Paranormal Activity
- Apparitions (full body and partial)
- Physical contact (shoves, touches, pinches, hair pulls, scratches, pokes, feeling someone walk past you.
- Shadows
- Footsteps
- Most haunted locations in the Reformatory - east wing first floor (toilet room and showers, third floor middle admin, sub-basement, chapel, west attic, admin basement, cell blocks (east and west), solitary confinement,
Location Info
- Offers self-guided tours, guided tours, Hollywood Meets History tour, Beyond the Bars tour, Electric Chair History and Ohio Execution Tour, Shawshank Bus Tour, for first-time paranormal investigations - public ghost hunts, ghost walks, ghost hunt classes, and for veteran ghost hunters - public hunts and private overnight investigations.
- Private overnight investigations (have to be 18+)
- Friday and Saturday private overnight investigations - $3000 for 30 people or 100 per person for more than 30 people (maximum of 100 people)
- Sunday through Thursday private overnight investigations - $1500 for 15 people or 100 per person for more than 15 people (maximum 100 people.
- A non-refundable deposit of $500 must be made 2 weeks after the hunt