Moundsville, West Virginia: West Virginia State Penitentiary Tour

The WV State Penitentiary is a defunct maximum security prison, closed in 1995 after the inmates sued the State of West Virginia over deplorable living conditions. Their point becomes apparent within 30 seconds of walking through the front door. Visitors are treated to a weird mix of decomposing historical site along with developing community event center. On any given day in the old recreation yard, you might see a community dog show taking place along side mock hangings and general site maintenance performed by state inmates from a nearby minimum-security facility.

Visitors should beware of the length and infrequent start times of the tours -- the only way to see the facility, as no self-guiding is allowed. While the penitentiary is open from 10:00 AM through 4:00 PM 6 days a week (Tue-Sun), tours only leave once every two hours (10,12,2) and last more than 90 minutes. If you're planning on visiting other area attractions, you might want to be there by 9:50 AM to ensure your spot on the first trip of the day, and heed the suggestion in any case to be there no less than 10 minutes prior to the start of a tour. Entry is strictly controlled due to community events possibly taking place and/or the presence of inmates working freely in the facility.

The tour's highlight is "Old Sparkie," the state's original Electric Chair, responsible for 9 executions before West Virtinia's outlawing of capital punishment in the '60s. A demonstration of the chair's functional predecessor, hanging, is also part of your trip.

Street parking is free and abundant, but watch out for the abnormally high curbs that can crunch the rims or fenders of unwary parallel-parkers.

The former West Virginia Penitentiary has been featured on MTV's Fear. The tour included a hanging demonstration and the electric chair. All of the cells have original grafitti, and you get the chance to be locked up.

I am just dropping you a line about another electric chair to add to your list of them. Former maximum security prison in Moundsville, WV, is doing tours six days a week and has their electric chair on display there. They also do a mock hanging similar to the suicide dummy used at the Wyoming Territorial Prison Museum.

For nearly 130 years, the old West Virginia Penitentiary was the biggest thing in Moundsville, WV. But two years ago, the Civil War-era fortress was closed and the prisoners moved out.