Mansfield Reformatory is located at 100 Reformatory Road, Mansfield, Ohio. Take Interstate 71 to the U.S. 30 West exit to State Route 545. Go North on State Route 545 for about ½ mile to left on Reformatory Road.
Construction on the Mansfield Reformatory commenced in the late 1800's on ground that was once used as an old Civil War training ground. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the massive prison as the world's largest free standing steel cellblock. The reformatory is now owned by the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society which offers summer public ghost tours and seeks donations in order to preserve the site.
The massive medieval looking structure was used as a prison until 1990 and was the site of several Hollywood productions including Air Force One and The Shawshank Redemption. Mansfield Reformatory has an incredible list of haunted tales that are part of its long history, probably because of the many murders and suicides that took place within the walls of the prison over a long period of time.
The design of the structure may be the cause of some of the disturbances that have been recorded. The tops of the prison towers are built in the shape of a pyramid and point towards the large central pyramid in the center of the prison. Could it be possible that the pyramid shapes are storing paranormal energies that are periodically released?
In the 1950's the wife of warden Glattke was killed by an apparent hand gun accident. Rumors have it that the warden actually murdered his wife and a huge cover up ensued. Ten years later the warden died of a heart attack in his office. The ghosts of both warden Glattke and his wife Helen now haunt the reformatories east administration building. Many orbs and mists have been photographed in the administrative wing over the years. Visitors to this wing have felt cold air spots while wandering its halls and have complained of camera malfunctions as well.
The Chapel is also an area of high paranormal activity. Orbs, mists, equipment failures, and mysterious shadows are just some of the strange events that occur here. Some people believe that the Chapel was used as an execution chamber before being converted into a Chapel although there is no evidence of this being true.
The basement of the prison is a dark series of hallways where the ghost of a young man is often seen running away from visitors. Rumors say the basement was used to beat and torture inmates. It appears that some of these tortured prisoners have never left the dark recesses of the prison basement.
Our investigation took place in May of 2003. We visited the reformatory during one of the scheduled ghost hunts that take place during the year. The weather was overcast with light sprinkles and a temperature of 70 degrees at the start of the evening. By the end of our investigation it was raining heavily and the temperature had dropped to the upper 50's.
We began our investigation in the west administration building shortly before 9 pm. The lights are turned off for the ghost hunts so a flashlight is necessary at all times to stay clear of the many hazards inside the prison walls. Dangerous sections of the prison are taped off and guides roam the facility answering any questions you may have.
The west administration building proved to show no signs of paranormal activity and we proceeded on to the east administration wing. The second floor of the wardens living quarters turned out to be a hot bed of activity. With the camcorder we were able to record several orbs in motion inside a large room at the front of the prison. Several other people participating in the ghost hunt also saw this phenomena occur. The dowsing rods were also indicating that paranormal energy was present in the area. A continuous counter clock wise spinning of the left rod occurred at the same time the orbs were captured on tape.
The second floor hallway just outside of the large room was also a haven for paranormal activity and equipment failures. Several additional orbs were captured on the camcorder tape. This activity lasted for over 25 minutes. Most of the orbs could be seen coming down the stairs leading to the third floor and shooting over our heads. Our camcorder suddenly turned off while we were filming the orbs in motion. Another ghost hunter who was standing next to us while we were filming also had camcorder and camera malfunctions just seconds after our equipment problem.
During the time we were filming the orbs we also recorded many spikes in our EMF meter. Most of these spikes jumped to between 3 and 4 on the meter. One particular spike nearly buried the needle at the upper range. The dowsing rods and the EMF meter were also indicating paranormal energy was present in a family bedroom across from the large room we were in earlier.
We left the administrative wings and continued our investigation in the prisoner holding areas.As we ascended a set of stairs in the west wing I felt a pressure on my upper body like someone was holding me back with the palms of their hands. It was a very strange sensation and lasted for only a few seconds before I was able to continue up the stairs. We took several photographs at this time but did not capture anything abnormal.
The isolation wing gave us some indication of paranormal energy when our dowsing rods began another counter clock wise spinning motion half way down the row of cells. This activity lasted for only 30 seconds and we were unable to capture any evidence on film or tape.
The final activity we encountered was at the end of the east cell block in a small room that is filled with toilets that appear to have never been used. The left dowsing rod was spinning counter clock wise just inside the door to this room.
In conclusion, we were impressed with the amount of activity in the east administration building on the second floor. The evidence we gathered there included EMF readings, dowsing rod activity, and orbs filmed in motion by the camcorder. There was a lot of dust in the air here also and you had to differentiate between the dust and the paranormal orbs. Luckily for us this was easy to do. It was quite evident when reviewing the tape which orbs were paranormal. The paranormal orbs did not show the same movement patterns as the dust. The paranormal orbs would change direction and dart up or down across the screen sometimes briefly remaining still.
