Ohio State Penitentiary Hauntings
Inhumane Punishment, Anguish and Over 1200 Deaths at this Prison
Oct 25, 2007
The Columbus Ohio State Penitentiary, not to be confused with the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, opened in 1834. In the early 1900s, it was vociferously condemned by prison reformists and closed in 1979. The building was vacant for years until it was razed to construct a parking garage for the Columbus Bluejackets’ hockey stadium.
Haunting Foundations
Prison life was brutal with cruel punishments. There were dunkings in vats of water, sadistic whippings, a sweatbox, balls and chains and, beginning in 1885, executions. Cells were unheated, beds were straw mats, and there were lice and rat infestations and cholera epidemics. Food was meager, sometimes spoiled, and the “menu,” limited. Medical care, at best, was poor.
At least 1281 people died within the prison’s walls: 343 executed, 116 from cholera and 322 in a fire. In addition to these deaths, there were suicides, victims of violence, killing of would be escapees and those who died of natural causes.
Famous Inmates
- Author William S. Porter, better known as O. Henry, served three years for embezzlement. It is believed this is why he chose to use a pen name.
- John Dillinger’s cohorts, Harry Pierpont and Charles Makely, tried to escape. Makley was killed immediately.
- Infamous mobster and Al Capone enemy George “Bugs” Moran was incarcerated for burglary.
- Dr. Sam Shepherd, convicted of murdering his wife and acquitted after 13 years in the penitentiary was another inmate.
- James Brown killed a shipmate and drank his blood, which gave rise to the tale about a “vampire” being imprisoned in the facility.
April 1930 Conflagration and a Curse
It was the worst fire in Ohio and American prison history. The official record stated that inmates started it and two of them committed suicide in ensuing months. Other people disagreed, believing the fire was accidental and the authorities covered it up. They thought guards did nothing to stop the blaze immediately after it was discovered.
Some people remembered the prison’s 1830 fire and wondered about a possible paranormal connection.
They thought of Shawnee Chief Cornstalk’s Curse. In 1777, this tribal leader and three other AmerIndians held captive by the Army after they went to talk of peace, were murdered in retaliation for an attack on two soldiers their tribal people did not commit. Cornstalk said the Great Spirit’s curse would blight the land. There had been prior disasters. Subsequent destruction and tragedies have been documented.
Happenings Paranormal
After the prison closed, people debated as to whether reported ghosts were mere memories and tales created in imaginations or were of the realm of the paranormal. Those brave enough to get close to or inside the empty prison believed vacant cells were haunted by the ghosts of men who died there.
Before the facility was demolished, witnesses had seen shadowy figures. Some reported hearing the sound of flames roaring beyond control and screams of desperate men who couldn’t escape the fiery horror. They felt haunting anguish imprinted in the prison walls.
Although the prison no longer exists, there have been accounts of people hearing piercing phantom cries, sounds of a conflagration and sightings of misty apparitional forms in the Bluejackets’ parking area at night.
Related articles:
Handprint on Jail Cell 17 Wall
Sources:
Haunted Houses, Richard Winer and Nancy Osborn, (Bantam Books, 1979)
No Rest for the Wicked, Troy Taylor, (Whitechapel Productions Press, 2001)
