Ohio State Reformatory

Over the summer I went to many exciting places and on many adventures but this adventure was amazing. If anyone has seen The Shawshank Redemption, then they usually know where it was mostly filmed. But if you don't, it was filmed at the Ohio State Reformatory. The prison was built from 1886 to 1910 and was a fully operational prison from 1896 to 1990, housing over 155,000 men in its lifetime. Now it is just a historic site for tourists to come and visit. It is also haunted by the spirits of prisoners who died there which made this place have an even more eerie feeling. We came to the reformatory for a marathon my mother was running in. The Shawshank Hustle 5k, and we arrived at 6 a.m for registration. The race began at 8:30 so waiting sucked a lot, there was honestly nothing to do but to stare at the beautiful building. Tours didn't begin until after the race, or well close to when it started for those who didn't want to wait. When it came time for when the race was supposed to have begun, some people still weren't there yet. Because over 3000 people were there that day parking was scarce unless you arrived early like we did and were able to park by the reformatory. However, some people weren't as fortunate and had to park at a stadium a few miles away and had to be bussed in. The event only had 3 busses running so it took forever for people to arrive. The race ended up being postponed multiple times and finally began at 9:30, with people still arriving late. After the race had began and everyone cleared out of the starting area, it was a waiting game. While we were waiting I had went ahead and purchased our tour tickets for the reformatory and then continued to wait with my stepfather and boyfriend.The first racer to finish was a girl at 25 minutes, which was very impressive for a 5k run. My mother finished at 51 minutes and a few seconds and once she got her medal, we all went to see her and gave her water. Once she had cooled down we started walking over to the prison. Once inside we were amazed by how beautiful this building was. So many rooms and things to see, I am still pretty sure to this day that we didn't see everything. However, due to restoring the building some parts were closed off to the public which was really upsetting. The first half of the building was where the warden lived with his family. I honestly don't know how comfortable I would be raising my family in the front half of the prison with killer on the opposite side of the building. The prison was fully operational by itself, which means everything they ever needed was produced there. Behind the prison today is a operational prison, but it used to be all of their production building where everything the prison needed was turned out daily. From crops, to clothing, and everything they used in the prison. They generated their own power as well. The place was amazing, even though it felt like a tomb, it was beautiful. It was definitely a lot of walking, but it was really worth it in the end. This place I had only seen in pictures was now in front of me and amazing to finally see. The house portion was beautiful, the cell blocks, not so much. Everywhere had paint chipping and destruction, from where the prison had withered away from old age. Seeing what was not too long ago an operational prison, I understood why it was shut down by the state. The living conditions weren't fit for anyone. The cells blocks were in ruins, and I couldn't imagine myself living in there for one night let ago years. While viewing rooms off of the cell block, I came back down the stairs and once I was close to the bottom, I felt a shove on my back and I ended up jumping down 2 stairs to the bottom. I don't know if I was actually pushed but that is surely what it felt like. Some spirit must not have been happy with me there at that moment, because I went back up and came back down again the same way I had before and nothing happened. After our tour of this beautiful castle like reformatory, we then proceeded to the gift shop, where I took forever to find the same thing I had picked up 20 times, because I am indecisive like that. After all of the excitement, we went back to my moms house and my boyfriend and I packed up and went home. It was an amazing day and I would love to go back to the reformatory and compose a ghost hunt at some point and see what I could find or who I could find. Until then, I will remain curious about who or what lies in the Ohio State Reformatory.