Conestoga tour to Mansfield May 17—Reformatory

Conestoga is  “friends” group that supports the Ohio History Connection (formerly Ohio Historical Society) and we take tours and raise funds to support research and preservation on our history.  On  a beautiful sunny May 17 after a very cold Spring we met at the center at I-71 & 17th Avenue, boarded a bus, worked our way through a traffic back up  and arrived at the Mansfield Ohio State Reformatory about 10:30. Our guide/docent who has a degree in history and anthropology carefully explained the history of the building, the wardens, the architect, and some escapes and threw in a little information on the four movies filmed there after it closed in 1990, especially Shawshank Redemption (1994).  Another guide, who was not on our tour but who talked to some of the members who could not take the physical demands of the entire tour (lots of stairs) was a former “resident” of this reformatory when it was still in service. He now works there and lives in Mansfield.  Most of us cared about the history, but other tourists come there for the movie history and paranormal gatherings—it is very spooky.  Some administrative areas have been restored, but it’s very expensive. The building was slated to be torn down, but a preservation group saved it.