Scary old jail launches new career as spook house

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Scary old jail launches new career as spook house

The 100-year-old Mansfield, OH, Reformatory — which closed in 1990 — is reopening for Halloween tours each Thursday, Friday and Saturday in October. People who visit the prison will find themselves "sentenced" by a ghoulish judge who will order them to the Reformatory's freestanding, six-story cellblock (the only one in the world). Mansfield Reformatory was used as the set for the film The Shawshank Redemption and is only a couple of blocks from the Living Bible Museum — another very scary place.

A group that's working to restore the old prison has announced that proceeds from the tour will benefit their efforts to convert the jail into a museum and office complex. [10/25/1998]

Ohio State Reformatory

Address:: Mansfield, OH
Directions:: North of town. I-71 exit 176 onto US 30 west. After about three miles, exit north onto Hwy 545/Olivesburg Rd. The Reformatory is just over the hill on the left hand side, on a side street named Reformatory Rd.
Hours:: T-F in the summer; Sundays 1-4 as well in spring and fall. (Call to verify)
Phone:: 419-522-2644

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