The Ohio State Reformatory is “the largest castle-like structure in Ohio [and] it is one of the five largest in the United States” (The Haunted History of the Ohio State Reformatory by Sherri Brake). Although much of it was built by the inmates who were housed here, the initial administrative and living quarters, as well as the West Cell Block, were built by local masons and craftsmen. The stone came from a local quarry, nicknamed, “The Devil’s Punchbowl.”
The West Administrative wing will soon house the Ohio Prison Museum, but while it was under restoration a little item was found beneath the floorboards in one of the former office rooms. Buried in the fill dirt that was used below the floor was a small pottery item. Jeff Bell, a restoration woodworker, pulled the item out and found it to be a pipe. Jeff did some research and found that the pipe was manufactured by The Akron Pipe Smoking Company sometime between 1890 and 1915. There is a saying “if walls could talk.” Did one of the masons or craftsmen building this administrative office leave this as a reminder that they were there or did it fall there by accident? We will probably never know but it is a unique item that leaves a very human fingerprint on this massive structure which inmates used to call “the Castle.”
In 1990, the Ohio State Reformatory was planned for demolition. The outbuildings and wall were to be taken down, but the cell blocks and the administrative building would remain to stand because of the high cost of their destruction. A lack of funding serves as interesting bookends to the OSR’s history: insufficient money slowed construction, and the same problem prevented the facility’s complete demolition. The Mansfield community saw an opportunity in the suspended demolition. The Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society (MRPS) was formed in 1995 as a grassroots effort to save and preserve the Ohio State Reformatory. By the time of its formation, the wall and outbuildings had been demolished. Because of the deteriorating condition of the building, the daunting task was at first met with skepticism.
Over the next eight years, the state vacillated about plans for the building. Finally, in 2000, the State of Ohio gave the building to the City of Mansfield, which in turn sold it to MRPS for $1. This is when MRPS’ work began in earnest. The goal of the society is to restore and preserve the building and its relics. In 2014, the reformatory was designated as the official museum for the Ohio Corrections Department and is currently preparing rooms to display items from throughout Ohio’s corrections facility, including the original electric chair.
The restoration of the assistant warden’s living quarters, also known as Warden Norton’s office in the Shawshank Redemption, was finalized in May of 2017. The intricate restoration process involved the skilled restoration staff’s intensive labor for three months. Notice the deteriorated condition of the ceiling and floor, serving as a memory from the reformatory’s forgotten history.
The restoration process required removing and replacing the entire floor, including subframe. According to the restoration crew’s lead craftsman, Bill Sample, the dilapidated ceiling was extracted and repaired. In fact, the entire room was gutted, except for the walls, and restored back to the condition the room was in the day the Shawshank Redemption filming began. Even wood grain was painted in the woodwork by Jeff Bell to match the more expensive style depicted in the movie.
The Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society and countless visitors are thankful for the skilled efforts of the Ohio State Reformatory’s restoration staff in bringing this deteriorated, collapsing room back to life.
