➤ View list of Holiday Closings at the Ohio County Public Library. © Copyright 2020 Ohio County Public Library. Once a notorious prison known for inhumane practices. The superintendent’s house and cell buildings would be so placed that the rear wall of each would form part of the west wall. The period of significance for the penitentiary is from 1866 to 1939. The prison at Joliet provided the prototype for the West Virginia Penitentiary.

It is now a tourist attraction popular with historians and paranormal enthusiasts. The center entrance is topped by a false gable end with the state seal flanked by pinnacles. The former south wall of the prison became the dividing wall between the North and South Recreation yards. The 200+ acre farm had fresh produce for the kitchen, or the vegetables were canned for later use. They appropriated $50,000 to buy land and to begin construction.

We welcome donations of books, historical materials, and other materials of value. Please click below to consent to the use of this technology while browsing our site. By the 1920s, the prison population had grown to over 2,000 with severe overcrowding, A new wing, later called "New Wall", was connected to the south side of the prison and was completed in 1939. The prison at Joliet provided the prototype for the West Virginia Penitentiary.
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All Rights Reserved. The cemetery was used when bodies were unclaimed by relatives, and there are several plots from men who died by capital punishment, but most of the bodies experienced death by natural causes. The other women were employed in domestic work within the department. A few years short of 50 years, the house is considered a contributing building to the historic district. An act of the legislature in 1866, directed the Board of Public Works to select a site of not less than 10 acres of land in or near Moundsville and to appoint a board of directors.

At that time executions took place in a building called the Death House where there were four holding cells on the first floor. If a prisoner is able bodied, he is assigned to one of the factories operated within the prison, and is required to labor nine hours every day, except Saturday afternoon, Sundays and holidays. (4) It is known that some of the stone was quarried from Marshall and Wetzel Counties, and that the walls were built by the labor of convicts and citizens. The prison had first farmed 10 acres next to the prison before moving to the large site. By 1868, the south cell building was constructed of stone with a slate roof. The sandstone facade has multiple battlements with circular or angled turrets and lancet windows. A 1929 publication states that the Main Hospital Building was the location of the death cells (death row) and execution room. All the prisoners who worked in the mine were "trusties" and stayed at the farm camp, later called Camp Fairchance. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. The house was designed to compliment the sandstone masonry facade of the penitentiary. The building dates to only a few years after the state was formed during the Civil War, and was in continuous use until 1995.

And there’s reason to believe this, since directly across the street from the central administrative tower is the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex, featuring the only mound remaining in the town of Moundsville. Walk through depictions of the torture inflicted on those who go to Buddhist hell.

The West Virginia Penitentiary (also called Moundsville), with its striking stone facade and Gothic castle-like style, opened in 1876. There are no buildings or structures standing today from the prison farm and coal mine the penitentiary operated about a mile southeast of the prison. PRISON HISTORY. Guardrooms would be above on a level with the top of the main.

Prisoners are frequently discharged who have several hundred dollars to their credit. They earned seven and a half days a month in "good time allowance". Various educational and enriching programs have been part of the institution.

Visitors have reported seeing the “Shadow Man,” a static-y silhouette that roams the grounds, in addition to others. Service provided by the staff of the Ohio County Public Library in partnership with and partially funded by Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation. The site that was chosen in Moundsville is directly across from the Grave Creek Mound, now a National Historic Landmark. When a prisoner's term has expired and the day comes for his final discharge, he is given a complete new outfit of citizen's clothes of good material. This method was used until 1965, when the legislature abolished the death penalty. Photographs from the 1920s show semicircular seating around a stage that held a large pump organ.

It was the wife of one of the Wardens in the 1950s who took an interest in improving the cemetery, and put up the white gate where the cemetery gets its name. Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. It was in 1866 that the Legislature authorized the construction of the West Virginia State Penitentiary at Moundsville.

A second building was built about 1950, as the West Virginia Penitentiary Control and Administration Building. A photograph is also made and filed with the record. These early grave had to be moved about 1890, due to drainage problems with the penitentiary. When this building was removed in the 1970s, the local Pastors Association donated the present chapel building in the South Recreation Yard. No purchase necessary. The imposing Gothic structure was first opened in 1876, but closed in 1995. In this way many prisoners aid materially in supporting dependent families, and they are encourage to do so."(7). A high wall enclosed this section from the main part of the prison. For one, Charles Manson once petitioned to be relocated there. (2). From the 1930s -50s, almost all of the inmates who died in prison were buried outside Moundsville in Whitegate, whether because of the Great Depression, or lack of insurance. The burial site is called Whitegate Cemetery today. The facade of the Administration Building is also symmetrical with twin towers and battlements. After nine inmates escaped … This new sandstone facade reflected the earlier Gothic Revival style chosen in the 19th century, and provided a sense of continuity to the complex. (This may have been a later name for the Hospital Building.) Failed state-supported institution meant to rehabilitate students with intellectual disabilities. The present concrete block and metal buildings inside the walls are noncontributing to the penitentiary's historic district. The coal mine was begun in 1921, at a cost of $15,000. The side of the former farm and coal mine is the current Regional Jail facility in Moundsville. This ten year construction project more than doubled the space, especially for housing prisoners. Some residents of West Virginia may remember the fact that the West Virginia Penitentiary was up and running between 1876 and 1995, but in current times it … The penitentiary well represents the State of West Virginia with regards to the Auburn Style of prison architecture and construction.

Despite its lavish ornamentation, and wholesome lifestyle of its devotees, this mountain commune has faced its share of issues.

The flowers accompanied the body to the place of internment. Approximately 50 women were employed in part of the shirt shop making collars and cuffs for the shirts made by the men prisoners. (3). Learn More.


At first five acres was purchased adjoining the prison, but in 1898, an Act of the Legislature made it mandatory for the Board to provide suitable grounds outside the city limits of Moundsville. From 1863 to 1866, Governor Arthur I. Boreman lobbied the West Virginia Legislaturefor a state penitentiary but was repeatedly denied.

“Unlike most of the people who’ve previously walked through the gates of the West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville, you can be fairly certain you’ll be walking out again a few hours later. Operation of these two facilities made the institution self-supporting. A floral fund was maintained in which the inmates each contributed one cent. No architectural drawings of the West Virginia Penitentiary have been discovered, so an understanding of the plan developed by the Board of Directors must be obtained through their 1867 report, which details the procurement of a title for ten acres of land and a proposal to enclose about seven acres. At each of the corners of this wall would be large turrets, for the use of the guards, with inside staircases.

This sandstone facade was also built to the south of the prison, and compliments the masonry construction, and architectural style of the penitentiary.

At the time of its closing, 653 were housed and guarded by a staff of 32 employees. Because of the overwhelming number of items donated, the limited amount of staff time to handle these donations, and limited space to house the donated materials, OCPL must restrict the donations accepted. These days, the only things it sees are much better behaved visitors. (5) These buildings as well as later 1890s to 20s structures, such as the wash house, bakery, and hospital, were constructed inside the North Recreation Yard. The prison yard would be a parallelogram 682 1/2 feet in length, by 352 1/2 feet in width, enclosed by a stone wall 5 feet in thickness at the bottom, 2 1/2 feet at the top, with foundation 5 feet below the surface, and wall 25 inches thick. See.


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