|
|
 |
Haunted Prisons: Mansfield Reformatory- Mansfield, OH |
The Guinness Book of World Records lists this massive medieval looking prison, built in 1896, as the world's largest freestanding steel cellblock, having six tiers. Levi T. Scott, a Cleveland architect, modeled the prison after old world German castles. He built the prison with the intentions of it having a, “spiritual and uplifting architecture,” to help better rehabilitate the young men who would be brought there. For much of its existence, the Mansfield Reformatory served as a home to “middle of the road criminals;” young men who were too young for the local boys reformatory and yet not hardened enough to serve time in the maximum security Ohio Penitentiary.
The Reformatory conditions rapidly deteriorated in the mid 1900's until the prison no longer met the modern standards set for federal correctional facilities. The prisoners were slowly transferred to other institutions over the next few decades. The Mansfield Reformatory was finally closed in 1990.
The Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society (MRPS), who now owns the deed to the prison, was founded and leased the land from the state of Ohio. Since then, Hollywood blockbuster movies like Shawshank Redemption and Air Force One have been filmed on the grounds of the Mansfield Reformatory. MRPS now conducts Hollywood tours and public ghost hunts inside the gothic prison for a set donation to the society.
Since the doors were closed on the Reformatory, there have been legends that the prison is filled with restless spirits of tormented inmates, guards, and prison officials who were never able to leave. As expected with this type of prison, there aregruesome tales of pain, violence, suicides, murders, and other “accidental” deaths. The terrible past events trap the ghosts behind the prisons stonewalls and decaying iron cell bars.
It has been suggested that the architecture of the prison itself draws focus to paranormal energies into the prison. The tops of all of the prison towers are pyramid shaped. They each point toward the large central pyramid tower that spirals down into the heart of the Reformatory. Whatever the reasons behind the prison's ghosts, it becomes clear to visitors that the hallways of the closed Mansfield Reformatory are not as empty as they appear.
The administration wing of the prison was a home and office to Warden Glattke and his wife Helen. Both of them died in this section of the prison. Helen Glattke's death was controversial. Helen accidentally knocked a loaded .32 automatic pistol off a high closet shelf while attempting to remove a jewelry box from the shelf. The gun went off when it hit the floor and the bullet struck Helen killing her instantly.
A decade later, Warden Glattke died of a heart attack in his office. It is believed that both the ghosts of Warden Glattke and his wife Helen haunt the Reformatory. At certain times, visitors can feel cold rushes of air move over their bodies. Strange anomalies are regularly recorded in the administration wing. Photographic orbs and equipment failure are common. The now infamous pink bathroom is also in the administration section. Visitors to the pink bathroom reportedly smell fresh flowers and perfume scents.
The Chapel is another area of the prison were strange events often occur. Video camcorders and other electrical equipment mysteriously fail and shadows seem to move in the darkness. Strange photographs and EVP recordings can be taken in the Chapel. There are rumors that the Chapel room was used as an execution chamber years before it was turned into a Chapel. Inmates were tortured and hung from the rafters. There are reports of a spirit peeking around the doors into the room, pulling away after it is noticed. It is believed that the Chapel, with all of its eerie occurrences, is a main source of the haunting.
There is a hospital infirmary directly above the Chapel. Inmates were treated for and died from horrible diseases like influenza and tuberculosis. Visitors now report feeling strange energies in the air and invisible entities that rush past them and down the stairs. Clusters of orbs can be photographed and EMF detectors can go off the chart. Many of the inmates who died in the infirmary may still haunt the Reformatory as ghosts.
The basement level is a small maze of dark twisting hallways. The rumor is that prisoners were brought down to the basement to be tortured and beaten. Visitors have reported seeing the ghost of a small boy, 14 years old, presumably beaten to death, standing in the dark hallways. The boy vanishes or runs away seconds after being noticed. There is also the legend of an old ghost named George, a former employee, haunting the basement of the Reformatory.
Not far from the Reformatory is a small graveyard with 215 numbered markers. These are inmates that went unclaimed after death. They are buried here alone with a number instead of a name. The graveyard is off limits to visitors because it is still owned by the new, adjacent correctional facility. The cemetery can be seen from the top of the guard tower, where witnesses have seen objects mysteriously fall or move without explanation.
A female ghost haunts the Reformatory's library. This ghost is allegedly either Helen Glattke, the Warden's wife, or the ghost of a young nurse who was supposedly killed by an inmate. Many psychics experience the vision of a young woman inside the prison. Visitors to the library have felt sick and light headed. Equipment stops working without warning and bizarre photographs often show strange lights and dramatic orbs.
The library is just another room in the enormous fortress of the Mansfield Reformatory. The east and west cellblocks are vast caves of decaying iron bars, chipping paint, and filthy mattresses. The cell doors are all open, but the ghosts remain imprisoned.
Murders and suicides occurred in the cellblocks. Inmates tied bed sheets around their necks and then twisted them around the bars until they strangled themselves to death. Other inmates were thrown off of the higher tiers for something as trivial as a pack of cigarettes. Life inside a prison is hard and filled with hate, wickedness, and agony. The ghosts haunting these cellblocks are still dealing with the same emotions and hardships that they struggled with everyday of their life. The building has changed, but the negative feelings continue.
The prison's most violent events happened in 1957 after a prison riot. An estimated 120 inmates were sentenced to thirty days in The Hole. The Hole was solitary confinement in a basement level of the prison equipped with only twenty cell units. The legend is that two men went into a cell and only one came out alive. The bodies of the murdered inmates were tucked away under the beds. The Hole is a place that has witnessed the darkest side of human nature. The negative energies left behind make this area one of the most significant haunted hearts inside the prison.
A visitor to The Hole does not have to be psychic to experience the intense residual forces. Many visitors who venture into The Hole become sick to their stomach, the hairs stand up on the back of their necks, goose bumps run up and down their arms, ghostly footsteps follow them, and they can't help feeling like they are being watched.
Maybe visitors are being watched. Many have reported seeing glowing eyes peering back at them from the darkness. Orbs can be photographed or videotaped. Many people have recorded strange sounds and scary voices on EVP recorders. The “impressions” left in the atmosphere and the ghostly activity experienced in The Hole are the genuine results of years of traumatic fear and terror.
Exploring the entire Mansfield Reformatory can be physically and mentally exhausting. Witnessed events are hard to account for with reasonably logical explanations. Paranormal investigators continue traveling to this old prison searching for its hidden secrets. Mansfield Reformatory's darkest secret might be the fact that even in death, some souls do not find freedom. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Alias | Date | Reply |
| Cat Attack |
10/9/2004 9:51:00 PM |
Thanks, this was interesting. I will see if I can find some pics of this place online. |
| Thankyou! |
10/10/2004 1:00:00 AM |
WOW! This was very interesting. I would be freaked out to go into any of the cells incase the doors closed on me!! Ghost-Chick |
| sweet cyndi. |
10/10/2004 1:39:00 AM |
sounds a lot like alcatraz. great story. cyndi. |
| 32Degree |
10/10/2004 3:53:00 AM |
Very interesting.Ty for taking the time to share it with us. |
| The Quiet One |
10/10/2004 2:17:00 PM |
Prisons are usually haunted,expecially old ones. There is a prison in Philadelphia that is closed but is open for tours. It's the basis for the video game the Suffering. |
| evil or divine? |
10/13/2004 1:44:00 AM |
Death Row in the folsom prison is said to be haunted. The warden, who does not believe in ghosts, admits that things happen that he cannot explain. |
| lvsk |
10/23/2004 11:45:00 PM |
Just saw this posting tonight on Scariest Places. That is not too far from my house, well about 60 miles. I call that close in relation to global miles. |
|
|
|
|
|
