One look and you might think this impressive architectural building is a castle of some sorts with its castellated Gothic stone structure complete with turrets and battlements. In reality it is the retired West Virginia State Penitentiary. For most of its years in operation at Moundsville, West Virginia it maintained a position on the Department of Justice's ten most violent correctional facilities. It operated from 1876 to 1995. It's seen riots, fires and the execution of nearly 100 prisoners through either hanging or electrocution. It is currently maintained as a tourist attraction and training facility.I must say when I went by to take these photos that the first sight of the structure is incredible. It is an imposing structure and these photos do not convey how massive and Gothic it looks in real life.
The dimensions of the parallelogram-shaped prison yard are 682½ feet in length, by 352½ feet in width. The stone walls are 5 feet (1.5 m) thick at the base, tapering to 2½ feet at the top, with foundations 5 feet (1.5 m) deep. The center tower section is 682 feet (208 m) long. The walls here are 24 feet (7.3 m) high and 6 feet (1.8 m) wide at the base, tapering to 18 inches (460 mm) towards the top. At each of the corners of this wall would be large turrets, for the use of the guards, with inside staircases. The prison was built by some of the first prisoners themselves from hand cut stone.
After the prison closed its doors as a state institution, the Moundsville Economic Development Council obtained a twenty-five year lease on the complex. Tours are available for tourists wishing to see the prison. The facility is also used for training criminal justice professionals with regular mock-riot drills.
Although only 94 inmates were executed at the prison almost 1000 men died there as a result of suicide and murder. The facility is said to be haunted with the ghosts of these men. There are several areas in the prison known as "hot spots" where an unusual amount of paranormal activity reportedly occurs.
The dimensions of the parallelogram-shaped prison yard are 682½ feet in length, by 352½ feet in width. The stone walls are 5 feet (1.5 m) thick at the base, tapering to 2½ feet at the top, with foundations 5 feet (1.5 m) deep. The center tower section is 682 feet (208 m) long. The walls here are 24 feet (7.3 m) high and 6 feet (1.8 m) wide at the base, tapering to 18 inches (460 mm) towards the top. At each of the corners of this wall would be large turrets, for the use of the guards, with inside staircases. The prison was built by some of the first prisoners themselves from hand cut stone.
After the prison closed its doors as a state institution, the Moundsville Economic Development Council obtained a twenty-five year lease on the complex. Tours are available for tourists wishing to see the prison. The facility is also used for training criminal justice professionals with regular mock-riot drills.Although only 94 inmates were executed at the prison almost 1000 men died there as a result of suicide and murder. The facility is said to be haunted with the ghosts of these men. There are several areas in the prison known as "hot spots" where an unusual amount of paranormal activity reportedly occurs. The historic structure is fast becoming world renown probably due to appearances in five TV shows including Sci-Fi's Ghost-Hunters (twice) and three movies, most conspicuously Scooby-Doo 2.
The prison was featured on Halloween 2008 on the Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures last week. When I was by here and took the photos there wasn't time to even consider a tour. I've since seen the Travel Channel show and if it is to be believed I'm not sure I would want to do the tour. Midnight tours are available as well as an overnight stay. Nearby residents mention seeing apparitions in the windows and unusual happenings on some tours.
I did check the windows frequently as I photographed and when I downloaded the photos to see if there was anything unusual!
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