(Note: All photos are thumbnailed - just click on them to view larger versions). Standing just outside Mansfield, the Ohio State Reformatory is one of Ohio's greatest historic buildings. Appearing out of nowhere, as if transported to the Heartland from a village in Transylvania, the dark, brooding building has been home to dangerous criminals, violent deaths, Hollywood movies, and, according to many, more than a few specters and spirits.

There was no mistaking Mansfield's excitement on November 4, 1886, when ceremonies marked the laying of the cornerstone for an intermediate state prison that would become know as the Ohio State Reformatory. A headline in the Richland Shied & Banner proclaimed it as "Mansfield's Greatest Day", with the day's events serving as the culmination of a long campaign by business and political leaders who wanted the prison built in Mansfield.





The campaign began shortly after the end of the Civil War, but it wasn't until 1884 that the state legislature approved the creation of a prison to serve as an intermediate step between the Boys Industrial School in Lancaster and the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. One year later, a board appointed by the governor selected Mansfield as the site. The city raised $10,000 to purchase 30 acres of land for the prison and the state acquired 150 acres of adjoining land for $20,000. The site had served as one of the city's two Civil War military camps, Camp Mordecai Bartley. Cleveland architect Levi T. Scofield was hired to design the prison, which was expected to cost $1.3 million. Scofield supposedly modeled the institution after sketches of Old World castles in Germany.

The laying of the cornerstone triggered a major celebration, with the city decked out in flags and bunting and a parade stepping off the downtown to the prison site. A crowd estimated at 15,000 turned out for the ceremonies, which featured numerous dignitaries. Included on the program were former President Rutherford B. Hayes, Sen. John Sherman, Gov. J.B. Foraker and Gen. Roeliff Brinkerhoff, the man who led the prison campaign. Funding problems caused so many construction delays that the reformatory wasn't completed enough to accept its first group of inmates until 1896--10 years after construction began. The prison officially opened on September 17 of that year when 150 inmates were transferred to the new prison from the Ohio Penitentiary. The transfer drew so much public interest that large crowds turned out, beginning with a throng in Columbus that watched the men, dressed in prison stripes, march from the penitentiary to a train station.


The Columbus Evening Press covered the move and wrote about the prisoners as if they were celebrities. “The men were in the best of humor and tossed off little jokelets along the route," according to the newspaper. "The 150 men seemed to enjoy the idea of the trip to the new prison. . . . Many of the prisoners had been given cigars by people who lined the route of the march." A local Mansfield newspaper reported that the train was greeted by another large crowd when it stopped in Galion before continuing on to Mansfield. A crowd along the tracks outside the reformatory watched as the prisoners finally were unloaded at the northwest corner of the prison and marched directly to their cells.





Completed between 1886 and 1910, "OSR" as it came to be known was intended as an intermediate penitentiary to house mostly young, first-time offenders who might still be reformed. Even the building's architecture, intended to invoke a Cathedral-like feeling and atmosphere, was designed to inspire inmates to repent and rehabilitate. Prisoners themselves built the majority of the facility, including the 25-foot stone wall that surrounded the complex and the sewer system. The reformatory still was far from finished when it opened. The first inmates were put to work on the prison sewer system and built the 25-foot stone wall that surrounded the 15-acre complex. The east cell block wasn't completed until 1908. The hand-carved woodwork and detail in the wardens' quarters and administration building were constructed right in OSR's woodworking shops. Construction continued throughout OSR's history, and was not completed until 1910. To this day, OSR still boasts the world's largest free-standing cell block - six tiers high, twelve cell ranges, and 600 cells.

Because of its role as an intermediate prison for young, first-time offenders, OSR held few famous inmates during its history. However, a few of OSR's former residents were on to later notoriety, including Henry Baker, one of the men convicted of pulling off the famous Brink's robbery of 1950. Another OSR inmate later found a more respectable career. Gates Brown of Crestline, who served at the prison from 1958 to 1959 for burglary, went on to play with the Detroit Tigers from 1963 to 1975, earning a reputation as one of baseball's best pinch-hitters. One athlete already was famous when he entered OSR. Kevin Mack, a star running back for the Cleveland Browns, served one month at the prison in 1989 on drug charges.





The darkest day in OSR history was July 21, 1948. Two former OSR inmates kidnapped the prison's farm superintendent, John Niebel, his wife, and 20-year-old daughter from their home on the honor farm and murdered them in a cornfield off Fleming Falls Road. The killers, Robert Daniels and John West, were trapped two days later a roadblock near Van Wert, where West died in a shoot-out and Daniels was captured. The Niebel murders were part of a two-week crime spree during which the pair killed six people. Daniels confessed to the honor farm killings, claiming they were an act of revenge, and died the following January in the Ohio Penitentiary electric chair.

Two correction officers also have been murdered in the line of duty at OSR. On November 2, 1926, a paroled inmate returned to the prison and shot Urban Wilford, a 72-year-old guard, outside the west gate in an unsuccessful attempt to help a friend escape. The gunman, Philip Orleck, was arrested two months later and died in the Ohio Penitentiary electric chair the following year. The second victim was Frank Hanger, 48, who died after being beaten with an iron bar during an escape attempt by a dozen prisoners October 2, 1932. Inmates Merrill Chandler and Chester Probaski were found guilty of the guard's murder and died in the electric chair in 1935.


Although OSR was hailed by many as the best prison of its kind when it opened, it drew criticism for overcrowded conditions as early as 1933. A research group of educators and penologists that year called conditions at OSR, "a disgrace," noting that the large number of inmates resulted in "mass rule" and "little or no real rehabilitative values." Four decades of deterioration later, a nine-member evaluation team studying vocational programs at the Ohio penal institutions recommended razing the reformatory and replacing it with several institutions housing not more than 500 inmates.





















The outcry over conditions peaked in 1978 when a coalition of civic and church groups filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the 2,200 inmates of the prison (it was designed to hold 1,200) charging "brutalizing and inhumane conditions." The lawsuit was resolved in 1983 with the filing of a consent decree in which prison officials agreed to improve conditions while preparing to close the cell blocks by December 31, 1986. The closing date was extended by the court because of delays in the construction of the Mansfield Correctional Institution. OSR was finally closed completely on December 31, 1990. A portion of the facility - mostly the workshops and outbuildings - was demolished to make way for construction of the current Mansfield Correctional Institute, and the remaining buildings were placed in the custody of the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Sociery in 1995. MRPS continues to administer, restore, and revive the facility today.





Nothing prepares OSR visitors for the sheer size and scale of the prison. Six levels of imposing cell blocks tower over you, and the open stairwells and upper cellblock catwalks can bring on an overwhelming feeling of vertigo. The 6' x 8' cells, built to house two inmates each, are stacked in seemingly-endless rows, giving the prison's ranges a hive-like feeling. It seems impossible to imagine feeling both claustrophobic and at the same time lost in an immense expanse of space, yet that is the feeling one gets while walking anywhere in OSR's prisoner wings.

Solitary confinement cells - "The Hole" - are smaller, darker, and danker, and even the prison's informary and chapel feel at once tiny and overwhelming. Group shower facilities in the basement are nothing more than overhead pipes with occasional spigots--a Borgian soaking hose for society's weeds. Guard quarters and facilities are larger and marginally less foreboding. The wardens' quarters are expansive with detailed woodwork. Though the entire facility is in severe disrepair (MRPS continues to renovate and restore as funding allows) visitors can visualize the grandeur of the main buildings, making the contrast to the hellish prisoners conditions even more striking.





OSR might well have been completely destroyed if Hollywood hadn't recognized its glory and grandeur. The prison was made famous when it served as Shawshank State Prison in 1994's Shawshank Redemption, and the visitor's center and gift shop area hold an array of autographed memorabilia from the Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman movie. Other productions with scenes shot at OSR include Harry and Walter go to New York (1976), Tango & Cash (1989), and Air Force One (1997). OSR has also been the subject of many travel and paranormal investigation shows including Scariest Stories on Earth, Scariest Places on Earth, Ghost Adventures, and Ghost Hunters. Many supposed "facts" often reported on national shows are in fact complete inventions intended to boost viewership ratings. One of the worst offenders is the Travel Channel's "Ghost Adventures" which represented an office space as OSR's "morgue" (which does not exist) and told a rather chilling tale of an inmate hanging himself off of one of the cellblock's railings, which also never occurred. Such shows need to be taken with a grain of salt and watched for what they are, entertainment.







No prison is without its haunted and horror stories, and OSR is certainly no exception. Death is part of prison life, and Mansfield has its share of murdered inmates, dead officers, and even suicidal staff. Two corrections officers lost their lives at OSR. In 1926, a former inmate who was attempting to break a friend out of the facility shot guard Urban Wilford to death. The gunman, Philip Orleck, was executed in Ohio's electric chair the following year for the crime. Officer Frank Hanger died in 1932 when prisoners in the solitary confinement ward beat him to death with an iron rod, and inmates Merrill Chandler and Chester Probaski were electrocuted by the State for that crime in 1935. In 1948, two former OSR inmates, Robert Daniels and John West, kidnapped the prison's farm superintendant John Niebel and his wife and daugher and murdered them in a nearby cornfield, as mentioned above. West died two days later in a shootout with police, and Daniels met his fate in Ohio's electric chair the next year.










On Nov. 5, 1950, Helen Glattke, wife of then-Warden Arthur Glattke, died an accidental death. The family were preparing for Sunday morning mass when at about 7:00am Helen was reaching for a jewelry box on a closet shelf when it was knocked to the floor, accidentally discharging and shooting Helen Glatkke in the chest. She called out to her son Art. Jr.who ran to find his father. Helen was rushed by ambulance and lingered for two days at Mansfield General Hospital, where she died from a combination of pneumonia and internal bleeding. Most websites simply repeat each other's story, stating that she was killed instantly and died on the premises, which is not true. Almost a decade later, on February 10, 1959, Warden Glattke suffered a massive heart attack in his office. He did not die at his desk, as is often incorrectly reported. He lived long enough for both sons to arrive home from school. Art Glattke Jr. accopanied his father in the ambulance, while Ted Glatkke followed in a car bringing personal items he thought his father would need. Shortly after arriving at Mansfield General Hospital he passed away. Many malicious rumors are often repeated at "fact" on various ghost-hunting websites, such as the couple were in the midst of a messy divorce and Helen's shooting may not have been accidental. This is because most of the "research" conducted consists chiefly of repeating each other's legends and stories without checking facts.










It is believed that the ghosts of both Glattkes haunt the Reformatory. At certain times, visitors report feeling cold rushes of air move over their bodies. Strange anomalies are regularly reported in the administration wing. Photographic orbs and equipment failure are common. The now infamous pink bathroom is also in the administration section. Visitors to the pink bathroom reportedly smell fresh flowers and perfume scents, and some report having heard the Glattkes arguing in Helen's room.

The Chapel is another area of the prison where strange events are often reported to occur. Video cameras and other electrical equipment mysteriously fail and shadows seem to move in the darkness. There are rumors that the Chapel room was used as an execution chamber years before it was turned into a Chapel, and that inmates were tortured and hung from the rafters. There are reports of a spirit peeking around the doors into the room, pulling away after it is noticed. It is believed that the Chapel, with all of its eerie occurrences, is a main source of the haunting.

There is a hospital infirmary directly above the Chapel. Inmates were treated for and died from horrible diseases like influenza and tuberculosis, as well as patched up from violent incidents and outbreaks on the cellblocks. Visitors now report feeling strange energies in the air and invisible entities that rush past them and down the stairs. Clusters of orbs can be photographed and EMF detectors can go off the chart. Many of the inmates who died in the infirmary may still haunt the Reformatory as ghosts. Inmate deaths and murders include an inmate who hanged himself in his cell, one who burned himself to death using turpentine and paint thinner stolen from the prison furniture shop, and an infamous incident in "The Hole" where two convicts were left in a single cell overnight--in the morning only one emerged, and the other was found stuffed under the bunk, bloodied nearly beyond recognition. Many visitors to OSR report feeling this murdered inmate haunting that cell.





Visitors to OSR can ghost hunt for themselves at more than a dozen "Ghost Hunts" sponsored by MRPS. Beginning in April and ending in November, ghost hunt participants are free to explore the prison, and to bring devices such as tape recorders, video cameras, magnetometers, and other paranormal hunting devices. Whether you're hunting ghosts, a history buff, or a movie fanatic, you simply must visit the Ohio State Reformatory at Mansfield. The architecture, the aura, and the atmosphere offer something for everyone. Proceeds from tours, ghost hunts, gift shop purchases, and facility rentals (yes, you can rent the guard's room for receptions and events) go to continued renovation and restoration efforts, and will ensure that this piece of Ohio's past and America's imagination will keep it's rightful place in history well into the future. (Information for the preceeding comes primarily from articles in the Mansfield News Journal (December 9, 1990) on the closing of the prison, and the Outlook Weekly (October 26, 2006).