Travel The Ohio State Reformatory, History and Hollywood

[Brownie]

My son and I took a brief trip to the Ohio State Reformatory, a historic prison-turned museum, ghost hunting, and the occasional movie set. There have been several movies filmed here, the most famous being The Shawshank Redemption. It is the largest castle-like structure in the US. Used first as a reformatory and later as a maximum-security prison, built the late 1800's it was abandoned by the State of Ohio in 1990. Three years later, it was reclaimed by a group who began preservation and renovation, eventually being purchased by them. It has been listed on the Registry of Historic Buildings since 1983.

As much of the front as I could get into a 17mm lens. Any further back and there would've been substantial obstructions.

• ILCE-7M4
• E 17-28mm F2.8-2.8
• 17.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/400 sec
• ISO 100

A few more of the building's details and closer sections. Not the plywood in the windows in the first shot. The third floor is undergoing renovation.

• ILCE-7M4
• E 17-28mm F2.8-2.8
• 28.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/640 sec
• ISO 100

• ILCE-7M4
• E 17-28mm F2.8-2.8
• 18.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/2500 sec
• ISO 400

• ILCE-7M4
• E 17-28mm F2.8-2.8
• 28.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/250 sec
• ISO 100

 

[Brownie]

Moving inside the building.

Historically: All of the stairways are made of steel. The architect hated what fire escapes did to the aesthetics of a building, so he convinced the state that if all the staircases were steel instead of wood, they wouldn't burn and could be used in case of fire.

Shawshank: This is the staircase Andy and the warden were walking down when Andy asked if he could send letters to the US Senate for library funds.

OSR (35) by telecast, on Flickr

Immediately opposite the stairs above, this is the room Andy locked himself in while he played the record over the prison's PA system. It took 8 takes and 8 panes of glass to capture just the right 'glass breakage' for the movie.

OSR (34) by telecast, on Flickr

Red's Parole Hearing Room.

Historically: This room was used either as administration or staff quarters, can't recall which.

Shawshank: This room was where Red returned over and over for his parole hearings. It's no where near as large as it seems in the movie. In order to make it look larger, they kept all of the movie gear outside and cut the bottom of the door off (next photo) to run cables through unseen. the hole in the door was for the camera lens to shoot through so they could keep the camera in the hallway, again to increase the impression of the room size. Hollywood magic.

OSR (6) by telecast, on Flickr

OSR (21) by telecast, on Flickr

Stained glass.

Historically: This is a closer view of the stained glass in the image above. As the prison was slowly closed down, prisoners and guards were sent to other facilities. One of the last guards was concerned about the glass, so he and a prisoner removed all of the stained glass and stacked it in an empty cell, then locked the door. Over the few years the building sat empty vandals destroyed or stole many of the features, and everyone just assumed the glass was gone. It wasn't until the group started exploring and renovating the building that the glass was discovered. As such, all of the stained glass in the building is original.

OSR (20) by telecast, on Flickr

The Warden's Office.

Historically: Was a living chamber for an administrative staff member.

Shawshank: The Warden's office.

OSR (17) by telecast, on Flickr

The safe in the Warden's office.

Historically: No significance.

Shawshank: The safe where the Warden kept his paperwork. The safe was installed for the movie, and was left in place afterwards. It was stolen by vandals. When the group began tours, one of the people on the tour said they had that safe in their car, and would give it to them if they wanted it. The prison has a "don't ask don't tell" policy in the hope of having important artifacts returned. If you've seen the movie, you will remember that Andy left the Warden his bible, with the rock hammer inside. They originally displayed the safe like that but after 6 bibles and rock hammers disappeared, they now display it as seen here.

OSR (18) by telecast, on Flickr


MUCH More to come, check back!

 

[Brownie]

Brooks' halfway house room.

Historically: The room was used for guard's quarters. When the prison was built, transportation was difficult and took more time, so staff was expected to stay on the grounds. This includes families.

Shawshank: Brooks' (and Red's) interior halfway house scenes were filmed here. The exterior shots were made in town. The beam with their names carved (below) is a copy. The original was stolen, and like the safe the beam was returned during a tour. Unfortunately it had been left to the weather and had rotted, so a duplicate was made.

OSR (8a) by telecast, on Flickr

OSR (9) by telecast, on Flickr

 

[Brownie]

The rest of the images are historic and informational only.

"Old Sparky". This electric chair was used in the execution of over 300 prisoners. It was moved here from a prison in Columbus, Ohio as part of the museum. There were no executions at this prison.

OSR (4) by telecast, on Flickr

Some 'shivs' confiscated over the years. The level of creativity is to be admired, they used whatever they could get their hands on. One of my favorites is directly to the right of the sign in front, a can lid folded over a makeshift handle to create a knife.

OSR (5) by telecast, on Flickr

An example of the condition the building was in throughout. This is the third floor, which they're just starting to work on.

OSR (7) by telecast, on Flickr

A view of the chapel, which is on the fourth floor. Church attendance was mandatory when the unit was operated as a reformatory.

OSR (11) by telecast, on Flickr

The architect who designed the building was a fan of symmetry. The crossed light beams on the floor is intentional. The four rooms adjacent to this hallway intersection were designed so that natural light from the windows would create these beams of light that cross in the exact center of the building.
OSR (8) by telecast, on Flickr

 

[Brownie]

Bars and cells.

No prison tour would be complete without a walk through the cellblocks. There are several generations and types of cells here. The blocks are 6 tiers high and as many as 50 per row, or a total of 100 per level. These are some of the oldest.

OSR (16) by telecast, on Flickr

From the inside looking out

OSR (24) by telecast, on Flickr

This cell block backs up to the one above. These blocks were heated originally with 14 fireplaces on the first floor. It was later calculated that it would have taken at least 22 fireplaces to get it even close to being warm. Prisoners who lived on the north side would many times have to break the ice out of the toilet in the morning.

OSR (25) by telecast, on Flickr

This cell is a little newer, and the one below is newer yet.

OSR (23) by telecast, on Flickr

OSR (31) by telecast, on Flickr

Not newer, but specially outfitted for high risk prisoners to stop them from grabbing guards and throwing things through the bars as they passed by. These were 23 hour cells. The one hour they got out of the cell was spent walking back and forth between their cell door and wall, about 12-15' away.

OSR (27) by telecast, on Flickr

The newest cells. There have been music videos made here, including one by Godsmack. These doors are double locked. Besides using a key to lock the pad that fits into the round opening next to the door, there is a bar that slides back and forth over the doors controlled by a single lever at one end. If only certain prisoners were to be let out, a 'Turnkey' would walk down the line and unlock those cells, then when the lever was operated only the doors for the unlocked cells would open. I operated the lever. It was tough, but not as hard as I thought.

OSR (32) by telecast, on Flickr

Solitary Confinement. State law limited punishment to a maximum of 30 days in solitary. It wasn't uncommon to let a prisoner out for 1 day and then put them back in for another month. This could be repeated indefinitely.

OSR (29) by telecast, on Flickr

They tell you at the beginning of the tour that you are welcome to walk into the cells, but warn you not to close the cell door. The keys are long gone, and if a cell door is locked it takes a locksmith to get it open. The last time it happened was on a boy scout field trip when a dad locked his son in a solitary confinement cell. It cost him $1300 for the locksmith service. The image below was made in that cell with the door closed, the locking mechanism has been permanently defeated and the tour guide welcomes you to go in.

I waffled at first and by the time I decided to go in was a bit rushed, as the tour was ready to move on. I was shooting way too low of an ISO for this image and should've been better prepared. The result is a 2.5 second handheld image. It's not very clear and certainly not sharp, but a fun memory nonetheless!

OSR (30) by telecast, on Flickr

If you ever have an opportunity to visit this site, it is highly recommended. They have guided tours for $35 per person or a self-guided tour for $25, but if you buy a guided tour you get the self-guided for free. We chose the 'Hollywood' tour as opposed to the historical, and I think we made the right choice.

Thank for looking!

 

[spudhead]

Nice Tim sorry I was busy when I first left a like earlier, nice job on these the place looks as it was in the film

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

Fantastic. I would love to visit, Shawshank is an epic film. Tango and Cash was filmed there too, well the prison scenes, and so were the Russian Prison scenes in Air Force One (strange coincidence there....)

 

[Brownie]

Fantastic. I would love to visit, Shawshank is an epic film. Tango and Cash was filmed there too, well the prison scenes, and so were the Russian Prison scenes in Air Force One (strange coincidence there....)

The gates from the prison escape in Air Force One are still there, I have a photo of them. There was also a Hollywood fence to close off the yard but that's gone. The gates are just visible in the top image, to the left of the main building, right where the front part ends and the smaller wing starts.

 

[Ian S]

I love the last set Very atmospheric.