The Reformatory was originally intended to be a place for reform. Criminals with lesser offenses could go there and get 'rehabilitated' as they transitioned back into society. While this may have been the intention when it was built, it is not the reality of what actually happened. The prison was cited in the 1930s for poor inmate living conditions. Solitary confinement in the prison was referred to as 'The Hole'. It is a set of 20 single person cells with very little light and no facility to use the bathroom. Inmates were given bread and water to survive on while they were in 'The Hole'. Every third day they were given a 'normal' lunch. Often times, the one inmate cell had more than one inmate inside, weaker inmates often had their food stolen from them by the stronger inmates. The living conditions in 'The Hole' were horrible.
I learned of a murder that had taken place in solitary many years ago. It is said that the victim still haunts his cell and the halls of
'The Hole'. Many visitors to this area claim to see a shadowy figure that walks the halls around solitary. Other have complained of an overwhelming feeling of dread and anguish when they are there. Still others have complained of instant nausea in this area. While I toured around the area, I didn't see any 'shadow people', I wasn't overcome by instant nausea either. However, I did have this sense of sorrow while I was in the area, but I am sure that is due to the stories I listened to and read about the treatment of those in 'The Hole'.
I spoke with some of the volunteers that were in the Reformatory about any paranormal activity they had experienced, and where they thought was the most 'active' place in the reformatory. One gentlemen helping to set up the haunted prison attraction for Halloween, told me he has only had experiences in the Chapel. He claimed that a full bodied apparition liked to stand in the back corner and watch over the Chapel. After hearing his claims, I had to go check out the Chapel and see if I could experience anything similar.
While in the Chapel, I felt nothing out of the ordinary. The chapel is a large room with beautiful columns that were made of metal. There 
is a nice-sized stage, or platform, at the far end where a preacher or minister would come and speak to the inmates. In my research of the Chapel, I found that in the early days of the reformatory, the Chapel are was used as the gallows. Inmates with the death sentence were hung in the same room they later used to worship in. Knowing this, I can understand how there may be some type of activity in the room. As for me, I didn't experience anything.
The administrative wing of the Reformatory is said to be haunted by Warden Glattke and his wife Helen. As the story goes, Helen was reaching in the closet for a box when she knocked a gun to the floor. The gun went off and shot Helen in the chest. She was taken to the hospital where she later pronounced dead. Rumors ran rampant through the area that the Warden was responsible for his wife's death, but there was never any proof to substantiate such claims. The Warden passed away ten years later in the same hospital as his wife.
Visitors in this area of the Reformatory claim to hear the voices of the Warden and Helen while they are walking the halls. Visitors and volunteers alike also claim to still smell the scent of Helen's sweet rose perfume coming from her pink bathroom. There are many reports of strange camera happenings in the area, too-- like a shutter staying open and overexposing the film, but once the camera was out of the area, it worked fine. While I was walking in the area, I felt a rush of cold air. I didn't think much of it, except for a visitor down the hall mentioned to his group, 'Did you feel that cold air just pass us by?' Was it the warden and his wife?
I continued on my own self tour of the Reformatory and headed to the cell blocks. The East Cell Block was my favorite. This is the six level tall steel cell block that made the Guiness Book of World Records years ago. This place had an ominous feel just walking around in it.
Many people have reported the sensation of being tucked into bed if they laid down on one of the inmate cots. It is said that some of the nurses
and other women that worked in the reformatory would tuck in inmates that were scared to be there and were of the less violent type. I decided to give this a try. I laid down in a cot in a cell that had been 'restored' to look as it did when the reformatory was in operation. The only thing I felt while laying there was this overwhelming urge to take a nap. I didn't feel any hands trying to tuck me in, which is too bad, that would have been fun to experience.
Both the east and west cellblocks have been well known to paranormal investigators for years as 'highly active' areas of the prison. There have been hundreds of pictures captured over the years in these areas purported to show shadow people walking around the cells. Many people believe this is the lost or trapped spirits of some of the inmates that were left there. In the west cell block, there is a shadow person that is alleged to have been an inmate that was killed after being thrown over the railing to the floor below. I didn't see any shadow people while I was there, but I can't discredit many of the pictures I have seen of such figures from the Reformatory.
I did have one unnatural experience while I was there and it occurred in the east wing. I am naturally a skeptic of such phenomenon. I walked into the east wing, talking to myself about how nothing has happened even remotely supernatural while I have been here. I guess that is all that I needed to say. I was getting set to take some pictures in the room when my camera failed. It started blinking that the battery was almost dead and then shut off. I was a little peeved, as I had just put new batteries in it before I started my tour. I took out my iPhone to snap some pictures and it had the infamous spinning circle on the screen as it shut off. While I was trying to get them to turn back on, I heard a shuffling sound coming from the other side of the room. As soon as I looked up to see what it was, a rock came flying at me from the area of the noise. It wasn't a large rock, but rather a small piece of mortar or brick about 1 inch by 1.5 inches by a half inch.
I quickly went across the room to see if anyone was there, or if there was anything there to explain what happened, animal, bugs, etc. I found nothing. I looked around and felt nothing, no cold air, no ringing in my ears, nothing to say there was something paranormal in the area. I figured I would try to recreate the scene. I walked back out of the room. Outside the room, my camera beeped and low and behold it was working again, I grabbed my cell phone and it turned back on as well. Both items showed full batteries, I knew they were good. I walked back in the room to see if anything would happen again, nothing. My camera worked, so I snapped some pictures of the area.
This was the only unexplainable event that happened on my tour of the reformatory. It was approximately 2:00 when this event took place, which coincidently coincided with the earthquake that was felt in the area. Maybe that would explain the supernatural happening. Could it be that an earthquake caused the events that I experienced in the east wing?
I would like to hear your experiences at the Ohio Reformatory if you have ever been there. If you have not been there, I highly recommend going. It is an absolutely beautiful building (at least from the outside) with lots of history.
