Mansfield in Richland County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
The Ohio State Reformatory
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., June 6, 2009
1. The Ohio State Reformatory Marker
Inscription.
The Ohio State Reformatory. . Designed by architect Levi T. Scofield, the Ohio State Reformatory opened its doors in 1896 as a facility to rehabilitate young male offenders through hard work and education. A self-sufficient institution with its own power plant and working farm, the reformatory produced goods in its workshops for other state institutions and provided opportunities for inmates to learn trades. As social attitudes towards crime hardened in the mid-twentieth century, it became a maximum-security facility. The six-tier East Cell Block is the largest known structure of its kind. Considered substandard by the 1970s, The Ohio State Reformatory closed in 1990. It has served since as a setting for several major motion pictures. This Mansfield landmark was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Designed by architect Levi T. Scofield, the Ohio State Reformatory opened its doors in 1896 as a facility to rehabilitate young male offenders through hard work and education. A self-sufficient institution with its own power plant and working farm, the reformatory produced goods in its workshops for other state institutions and provided opportunities for inmates to learn trades. As social attitudes towards crime hardened in the mid-twentieth century, it became a maximum-security facility. The six-tier East Cell Block is the largest known structure of its kind. Considered substandard by the 1970s, The Ohio State Reformatory closed in 1990. It has served since as a setting for several major motion pictures. This Mansfield landmark was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Erected 2001 by The Ohio Bicentennial Commission, The Longaberger Company, The Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society, and The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 4-70.)
N, 82° 30.176′ W. Marker is in Mansfield, Ohio, in Richland County. Marker is on Reformatory Road, in the median. Entrance to the old reformatory is actually off Crawford Avenue North. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 100 Reformatory Road, Mansfield OH 44905, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Also see . . . Ohio State Reformatory. The Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society website. (Submitted on July 19, 2009, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona.)
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., June 6, 2009
2. The Ohio State Reformatory and Marker
Photographed By Denise Boose, July 25, 2021
3. Ohio State Reformatory Six-tiers
Credits. This page was last revised on September 27, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 10, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 1,501 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on July 10, 2009, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. 3. submitted on September 17, 2023, by Denise Boose of Tehachapi, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.
