Ohio State Reformatory

The Ohio State Reformatory (OSR), also known as the Mansfield Reformatory, is a historic prison located in Mansfield, Ohio in the United States. It was built between 1886 and 1910 and remained in operation until 1990, when a United States Federal Court ruling (the 'Boyd Consent Decree') ordered the facility to be closed. While this facility was seen in a number of films (including several while the facility was still in operation), TV shows and music videos, it was made famous by the film The Shawshank Redemption (1994) when it was used for most scenes of the movie. The Ohio State Reformatory is currently open to tourists 7 days a week. Hours are 11am-4pm, with extended weekend hours from 10am-4pm, Memorial Day-Labor Day. History The history of the Ohio State Reformatory began in 1862: the field where the reformatory would be built was used as a training camp for Civil War soldiers. The camp was named Camp Mordecai Bartley in honor of the Mansfield man who served as Ohio Governor in the 1840s.