Ohio Penitentiary

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This article is about former prison in Columbus, Ohio. For the current prison in Youngstown, see Ohio State Penitentiary.

The prison, variously referred to as the Ohio Penitentiary, or the Ohio State Penitentiary, or (informally) the Ohio Pen or State Pen, operated in downtown Columbus, Ohio in what is now known as the Arena District, from 1834 to 1983. The prison housed 5,235 prisoners at its peak in 1955. Conditions in the prison are described as "primitive", and the facility was eventually replaced by the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, a maximum security facility in Lucasville. During its operation, it housed several well-known inmates, including General John H. Morgan, who famously escaped the prison during the Civil War, "Bugs" Moran, O. Henry, and Sam Sheppard, whose story inspired the movie The Fugitive. The building was finally demolished in 1998.^[1]

The prison was the site of the "Halloween Riot", on October 31, 1952,^[2] as well as the riot of 1968,^[3] and a major fire that killed 322 inmates in 1930.^[4]

After the closure of the Ohio Penitentiary in 1983,^[5] the building stood vacant for more than a decade, though it was used as a training site for a time by the Ohio National Guard, was briefly known as "The Haunted Prison" for Halloween festivities, and attracted a number of urban explorers. The state eventually sold it to the city of Columbus in 1995. The Burnham Square Condominiums, named after urban planner and architect Daniel Burnham, who designed Columbus's Union Station, and the Nationwide Arena now stand on the site of the former penitentiary.^[6]^[7]

[edit] Images

A cell block in the abandoned prison, shortly before demolition.	A cell in the abandoned prison, shortly before demolition.	The James Hospital stood in the courtyard of the prison.	Interior of the prison.
The courtyard of the abandoned prison. The AEP building and LeVeque Tower can be seen in the downtown skyline.	Gate to the prison's courtyard.