This story was originally published by the Ohio History Connection. It is being published here by a collaborative agreement.
COLUMBUS — The Ohio State Penitentiary, also known as the Ohio Penitentiary, operated from 1834-1984 in downtown Columbus.
It was known for its poor conditions and at its peak in the mid 1950s it housed more than 5,000 prisoners.
Some of its more famous inmates were General John H. Morgan, who famously escaped the prison during the Civil War, “Bugs” Moran, O. Henry, Chester Himes, and Sam Sheppard, whose story is said to have inspired the movie “The Fugitive.”
Until 1963 when death penalty was halted in the State of Ohio, it was a site of executions.
In 1930 the prison experienced the deadliest prison fire in United States history as it killed 322 inmates and injured 150.
For some time after the Ohio Penitentiary closed in 1984, the building was used as a training site by the Ohio National Guard and for Halloween festivities as “The Haunted Prison.”
It also served as the setting for the 1985 TV movie “Love on the Run.”
The building was eventually sold by the state to the city of Columbus in 1995 and demolished in 1998.
