The Mansfield Reformatory | Ep. 129
It’s easy to understand why a large prison may be haunted. Now, throw in decades of abuse, violence, and suicide. That terrifying combination gives you the Mansfield Reformatory.
This Ohio State Reformatory is known as being incredibly haunted, with guests often seeing shapes and shadows and being touched by unseen entities.
But, is it believable? Listen now.
Is The Ohio St
ate Reformatory The Most Haunted Place
What lingers in the gothic remains of an Ohio prison?
Does the spirit of a 14th at old boy exist alongside his killer?
Would you be able to last the night in one of the most haunted reformatories on earth?
What is up, Bizarros?! This week we dive behind the prison walls of the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield.
The History Of One Of The Most Haunted American Prisons; The Ohio State Reformatory.
The Mansfield Reformatory is a giant prison located in Mansfield, Ohio.
The facility was designed by a Cleveland architect named Levi T. Scofield in the 19th century. There were three distinct styles in designing the prison.
Victorian Gothic, Richardsonian Romanesque Revival, and Queen Anne. It was supposed to be inspiring to the inmates.
In September of 1896, the first 150 inmates were delivered by train from Columbus, Ohio, the state capital.
They were given no time to rest though they were put right to work in constructing the facility’s sewer system.
They were also charged with erecting the 25-foot stone wall that surrounded the reformatory.
The reformatory closed in the 20th century in December of 1990 ( in perspective, that’s a month after Charlie was born. He’s just a wee baby.)
One of the reasons it was closed was due to lawsuits levied by the prison population. They brought cases of overcrowding and inhumane conditions.
The reformatory has been renovated by the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society. It has been the setting for many artists’ music videos, documentaries and was the main backdrop for the Shawshank redemption starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. (They make damn sure you know it too.)
According to reformatory themselves, these are the Eight Most Haunted Locations In The Mansfield Reformatory.
#8 The East Wing On The First Floor:
A hotbed of paranormal activity, usually shadow people, can be seen here.
#7 Third Floor Middle Admin
It is said that constant voices and footsteps can be heard. There are also sightings of shadow people.
#6 The Sub Basement
It’s a very creepy area. Even when it was in operation, this was said to be a hot spot for frightening events.
#5 Chapel
Ghosts have a tendency to touch here
#4 The West Attic
Apparently, a well-known person had a wild experience here.
#3 The Admin Basement
There are two entities down here. One is said to be good, and one is considered a dark spirit.
#2 The East & West Cell Blocks
Very bad things happened in these cells, murders and rapes.
#1 Solitary Confinement
These were such horrible conditions that inmates often killed themselves in solitary confinement cells.
Specific Entities & Creepy Spirits At The Mansfield Reformatory
Administration Basement
One of the two entities in the administration basement is a beloved 14-year-old boy with positive energy despite how killed. It is alleged that he was beaten to death in the basement.
You may be able to catch his spirit flickering from wall to wall or out of the cot or if your eye.
The other entity in the admin basement is possibly the one who murdered the boy. The guard has a dark and sickening presence.
The Hole
The hole was this dark deep place. It was a place where they would rarely feed the poor people sent there. Bread and water maybe every three days.
This was an ultimate punishment, the kind where people were locked in tiny dark places is known to drive people insane.
The staff at the reformatory were known to send upwards of 100 people in a space designed for approximately 20.
People that go into the hole usually feel nauseous, experience cold spots, and have the uncomfortable feeling of being watched.
The Chair Room
Then there is the chair room. The chair room Is a windowless room with a chair in the middle of the room facing out towards the hallway.
In the room lives a dark entity. If you move this chair, you should expect it to be moved back to the middle of the room again shortly by an unseen person.
Quote from dark art and craft about the chair room:
“I found one account where a person sat in the chair, provoking the spirit. By provoking, I mean yelling at it, inciting it to take action. The person left with scratch marks all down their back.
Cell Blocks
The cell blocks are also very, very haunted. There are several instances of suicides in these overcrowded cells from men that were hard or appeared to be that way.
Quote from dark arts and crafts about the suicides.
“One of which is James Lockhart. It’s believed that Lockhart, who had less violent offenses than his cellmate and neighbors, was experiencing bullying and threats. To escape his fate at their hands, he stole a turpentine can and set himself on fire. The fire was so significant that all that anyone could do was watch him slowly melt, screaming and writhing in pain as he died.”
“Larry Haymer, a prisoner who was a week due from transferring, made a noose out of his bedsheets and tossed himself over the railing, hanging himself. “
This one is from ranker about a woman who was killed by accident in the facility. Here is the quote from ranker.
“As the story goes, Helen Glattke, wife of Warden Glattke, haunts the Administration Wing of the building.
She was killed in 1950 when a gun fell onto the floor and left her with a fatal bullet wound.
Now, rose-scented perfume wafts from a bathroom she once occupied, cold spots are felt in the sealed hallways, and visitors’ cameras cease to work until they leave the wing.
Sometimes the voices of Helen and her husband can reportedly be heard in the area.”
The Reformatory Cemetery
The reformatory has a cemetery attached to the grounds for the unclaimed deceased inmates.
There are at least 200 bodies buried there due to illness or violence.
According to ranker, the cemetery is hard to photograph because whenever a camera comes on the plot, they stop working.
Whenever small items are placed there, they have a tendency to move.
Personal Encounters At The Ohio State Reformatory
Reported to Graveaddiction.com in 2006. Carrie says…
“I just got back from visiting Mansfield, and we had an experience in the cell marked with an “X”
Taken back to the cell block after a tour, 9 of us and a guide heard something in the hallway.
The guide went silent. Sounded like running and she yelled out, “running is not allowed!” thinking it was a guest.
Then she saw no one was missing. A distant cell door slammed.
As we left, I noticed our guide looking scared and soaked with sweat.”
Also reported to Graveaddiction.com. Gina says…
“Our group was walking down metal stairs from the tower. My friend and I were in the back with some high school students in front.
I’m clumsy and held tight to my friend’s hand and the railing.
Someone slapped my back!
I fell forward into my friend and over to the side of the railing, my arm clutched as my muscles pulled to a painful angle.
Then down to a knee, I quickly spun to face my attacker. No one was there.”
Reported to Ohio State Reformatory’s Facebook Page. Randy says…
“On my last visit to the Mansfield, my recorder and camera picked up some tapping on the walls of a jail cell.
My friend and I thought it was Morse Code. My buddy was military and familiar with the code. He listened closely.
It wasn’t Morse. We thought it was a code developed by prisoners to communicate without the guards knowing.
The ‘tapping noise’ was caught on our recorder just in that cell. No other time during our visit.”
Again from GraveAddiction.com, In 2007, Michelle reported…
“I worked in Mansfield last year and was assigned to the Hole. Me and another girl in the empty space on opposite ends. We heard shuffling around in the hallway.
“[Thinking it was visitors who] didn’t know we were there. I looked over to the other girl and smiled as if to say, ‘let’s scare them.
She smiled back.
“We jumped out and screamed. The hallway was empty. The shuffling gone.”
Post from Reddit
First, I’m a skeptic. I’m normally here debunking things.
On my trip to OSR last week, I took a few photos down the East Wing.
I found something off in one of the photos. The area is chained off (yes, someone could have gone past the chain, like staff or guests).
Included are three photos unaltered and the same photos but zoomed in. The image in question I highlighted in blue.
A second picture was taken a few seconds later, and no “object” is seen. A third image is added to show the same area but from a few floors up. Taken on an Iphone 13, no flash.
I did add some blue highlights to show the areas of interest.
There is a chair that I highlight on the top floor in the one photo (to show it’s the same area).
But the anomaly in question is at the end of the hall, between an entryway. It’s not in the other two photos.
Reddit comment
That shower room is 100% haunted. We were there today.
There was a loud banging noise before we walked in, so we figured someone was in there doing something, but when we got in there, the noise immediately stopped, and the room was totally empty.
Then we walked back out, and the noise started again.
3 Experiences From Someone That Worked In The Ohio State Reformatory
On my first day working there, I was following along behind a tour, working as a “pusher” (to keep people from wandering off and obeying signs) on the west cell block tour.
It was around 3:30 or so, and I was standing on the south side a few cells from the end of the block while the guide was sharing something with the group when a few guests were asking me something.
Don’t remember the question, but the answer involved Jason and Grant from TAPS.
Just as I said their names, I got hit from behind. My brother used to do this thing where he would walk up behind me and slam his hand down on my neck/shoulder forcefully.
I had thought it was him who did this and was pissed because it was way more force than usual.
But turned around, and there was absolutely no one there. Brother was on another tour, and the guest I had been speaking with looked at me all confused.
10 mins later, the tour was over, and my neck and shoulder were killing me. My right ear was ringing by this point, and the whole area felt like it was on fire.
The next day woke up with a bruise on my neck/shoulder and scratches on my ear.
One day between tours myself and a few other people decided to wander into the basement as we were still new and hadn’t been there before.
We were on the ease side under the administration section and just looking around. Very quickly we felt watched and it got much colder.
The longer we stayed, the more uncomfortable it became.
Only one light works in the main room, and there were 5 adjacent rooms and a hallway behind the stairs, so it’s very dark.
I sat on the steps for a moment, and my one friend took a picture of her grandson and me.
No one else was on the steps. Immediately we looked at it, and behind us, you could see very clearly someone standing behind us.
They were transparent but very detailed. A few moments later, we heard a shuffling sound assuming it was a raccoon. We approached where the noise came from
and noped the fuck out of there because we were met with a set of red eyes in the darkness.
They weren’t reflecting light as a deer or cat’s eyes would.
They were glowing and had their own light source.
Another day after tours myself, my brother and two friends were wandering the west cell block.
We were on the north side 4th range. (Tier)
As we were walking, we heard someone walking below us and assumed it was K or M,
two other people who we worked with and had previously seen walk past and head for the west tower.
As we were walking toward the end of the cell block, after the footsteps, we heard what sounded like a cell door slam shut below us, and it shook the range.
(Odd because the block is brick and mortar, but the tiers are steel.)
Immediately following the bang of steel on steel, we heard running, a dragging sound, yelling from 4 different people, more loud bangs, and a thud.
Then everything went silent. We were all looking at each other like, WTF?
While we stood there for a few mins listening, K and M walked by again on the ground floor coming back from the tower.
It wasn’t them that made the noises, and they didn’t hear them as they were in a different part of the prison.
Is The Mansfield Reformatory One Of The Most Haunted Prisons In American History?
What do you think, Bizarros? The prison has a reputation for terrible aspects of prison life and has a haunted history that is filled with personal experiences from work and visitors.
Do you believe that the Ohio State Reformatory is haunted?
Or is everyone caught up in the legends of the Reformatory?
Let us know what you think in the comments.