GOhio! Adventures Around Columbus

An Escape to Shawshank

Sat, Nov 21 · 12:00 PM EST

The Ohio State Reformatory, 100 Reformatory Rd, Mansfield, OH, US

History

The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield stands as one of America's most imposing architectural and historical monuments to nineteenth-century penology. While most people across the globe and many right here in Ohio recognize its towering limestone facade as the fictional Shawshank State Penitentiary from the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, the true history of the structure is far more complex than its Hollywood legacy. It is a story that spans over a century, shifting from an idealistic nineteenth-century experiment in human rehabilitation to a overcrowded, violent, maximum-security hellscape, and finally to its modern reincarnation as a historic preservation success story.

The Philosophy of the Intermediate Penitentiary

To understand why the reformatory exists, one must look back to the post-Civil War era. During the late 1800s, Ohio’s primary penal institution was the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. It was notoriously brutal, plagued by overcrowding, and mixed first-time teenage offenders with hardened, violent criminals.

In response, social reformers advocated for a new type of institution: the "intermediate penitentiary." The goal was not simply to punish, but to reform. The target demographic was young, first-time offenders aged sixteen to thirty. The theory was that these young men were not yet entirely corrupted by a life of crime and could be saved through discipline, education, religion, and trade registry.

In 1884, the Ohio General Assembly approved the construction of the Intermediate Penitentiary. Mansfield was chosen as the site, largely due to its central location, robust railroad access, and the city's willingness to donate 30 acres of land.

An Architectural Masterpiece of Terror and Grace

To design this grand experiment, the state hired Cleveland architect Levi T. Scofield. Scofield believed that the physical architecture of a prison could spiritually elevate and reform the inmates within it. He utilized a blend of three distinct styles: Victorian Gothic, Richardsonian Romanesque, and Queen Anne.

Scofield intentionally crafted an exterior that resembled a grand, medieval European castle. The soaring towers, arched windows, and intricate brickwork were designed to inspire awe, foster a sense of religious repentance, and subtly remind the inmates of the majestic power of the law.

Construction began with the laying of the cornerstone on November 4, 1886. However, the project was plagued by severe funding shortages and political delays. It took ten years and roughly $1.3 million — an astronomical sum at the time — before the facility was ready to receive its first inmates.

On September 17, 1896, the institution officially opened its doors, re-christened as the Ohio State Reformatory (OSR). The first transfer consisted of 150 young offenders from the Columbus penitentiary. Upon arrival, they were not immediately locked away; instead, they were put to work completing the prison's outer walls and infrastructure.

The Golden Era of Reform (1896–1960s)

For its first few decades, OSR operated largely as its founders intended. The institutional philosophy centered on the Elmira System, which utilized a three-stage grading process.

Upon entry, every inmate was placed in the second grade. Good behavior, academic progress, and diligent work allowed an inmate to promote to the first grade, which carried expanded privileges and paved the way for an early parole. Conversely, bad behavior demoted an inmate to the third grade, stripping them of privileges and adding time to their sentences.

The reformatory functioned as a self-sustaining city. Inmates lived under strict discipline but were given access to a comprehensive high school education and spiritual counseling. More importantly, they were taught viable trade skills. The reformatory featured:

• A fully operational farm that produced food for the facility
• A printing shop
• A shoe factory
• A machine shop
• A tailor shop

By the mid-twentieth century, however, the lofty ideals of the nineteenth-century reformers began to erode under the weight of a changing society and shifting state demographics.

The Descent Into Darkness

By the 1960s, the "reformatory" aspect of OSR was dead in all but name. The state of Ohio faced a massive surge in its prison population, and OSR was forced to transition into a maximum-security facility. The youthful, non-violent offenders the prison was built for were replaced by individuals convicted of violent, serious felonies.

Overcrowding quickly became a catastrophic issue. The prison's cellblocks, designed for single occupancy, began housing two or three men to a cell. The most jarring manifestation of this era is the West Cell Block. Standing six tiers high, it remains the world’s largest free-standing steel cellblock, constructed by the Champion Iron Company of Kenton, Ohio.

As living conditions deteriorated, violence spiked. The prison became a pressure cooker of inmate-on-inmate violence, disease, and psychological despair. The solitary confinement cells — known colloquially as "The Hole" — were dark, damp cages where men were kept in total sensory deprivation for days on end.

The human toll of this era was devastating. Several corrections officers were murdered in the line of duty, including Guard Superintendent Philip Urban in 1926 and Guard John F. Patterson in 1948. In 1932, a prison riot resulted in significant structural damage. By the late 1970s and 1980s, federal courts intervened. Activists and civil rights lawyers filed lawsuits against the state, citing OSR's conditions as "cruel and unusual punishment."

Closure and the Hollywood Resurgence

In 1990, the Council for Human Dignity won its legal battle against the state. The federal court ordered the immediate closure of the Ohio State Reformatory. The remaining inmates were transferred to the newly constructed Richland Correctional Institution, a modern, sterile facility built just behind the historic prison walls.

For a brief window, the abandoned castle in Mansfield faced the wrecking ball. The state intended to demolish the entire complex to clear land. However, fate intervened in the form of Hollywood.

In the summer of 1993, director Frank Darabont utilized the vacant reformatory as the primary filming location for The Shawshank Redemption, starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. The prison’s grim, towering cellblocks, its imposing warden's quarters, and its gothic administrative halls provided the perfect visual canvas for Stephen King's story of hope and endurance. While the movie was a box-office disappointment upon initial release, it grew into a cultural phenomenon.

Preservation and the Modern Era

Following the success of the film, local activists and preservationists formed the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society (MRPS) in 1995. The society bought the property from the state of Ohio for a nominal fee of one dollar, with the condition that they spearhead its restoration and maintain it as a historic site.

Today, the Ohio State Reformatory is one of the most successful historic preservation projects in the Midwest. It operates as a bustling tourist destination, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors to Mansfield every year. Guests can walk through the jaw-dropping cellblocks, tour the warden's offices, and see preserved set pieces from The Shawshank Redemption, including the office window and the tunnel replica.

Beyond its cinematic ties, the facility honors its dark and complex history. It serves as a museum dedicated to the evolution of the Ohio penal system, keeping alive the memory of the reformers who built it, the guards who worked it, and the thousands of inmates who broke rocks, learned trades, or suffered behind its towering limestone walls.

* * *

Summary

For this event, we will do the self-guided tour of the Reformatory.

Tickets and Pricing

Tickets for this tour are $30 and can be purchased either online or at the Reformatory. There is no discount for purchasing online and the tickets never sell out. No reservations are required.

Length of the Tour

The MRPS recommends an hour and a half to do this tour, but we'll be going at our own pace and won't be in any kind of rush.

Where we'll meet

We will meet either at the front desk or just near the main entrance.

Are there a lot of stairs? Is there a lot of walking?

Yes and yes. We could potentially be up and down 20+ flights of stairs on this tour. The building is approximately 250,000 square feet and the standard tour route spans most of it.

Will this be the full tour?

Yes. From Labor Day to mid-November, part of what is on this tour gets converted over to the Reformatory's haunted house. These parts of the prison are closed off and cannot be seen on the self-guided tours during this time.

However, the date of this event is the first date on which the full tour is once again open after the haunted house closes for the season. So you will be able to see everything at the Reformatory that can normally be seen as part of this tour.

What about the weather?

The museums and administrative areas of the building are temperature controlled. The cell blocks and other sections of the prison are not. Please dress accordingly. In the winter, the cell blocks will be freezing cold.

Is the tour indoors?

Yes. The only time you will be outside is walking from your car into the building. They have a full roof and the entire tour route is indoors.

Are we allowed to take pictures?

Yes.

After the Tour

Afterward, we will head over to Mansfield's Phoenix Brewing Company, an exceptionally highly rated brewery. The brewery always has a food truck on Saturdays. My guess is this will be the V&M food truck (which is quite good and I can vouch for their burgers), but it might also be the Grub Brothers truck (which I haven't had but I'd bet is probably also good).

The actual address of the brewery is 131 N Diamond St, Mansfield, OH 44902. It's only about 5 minutes from the Reformatory. If you like spirits, their upstairs Spirit Room has a unique vibe (and large comfy leather seats) and I'll encourage you to check it out while we're there.

Trails & Ales! Clear Creek Metro Park / Double Edge Brewing

Sat, Dec 12 · 2:00 PM EST

Clear Creek Metro Park Parking Lot, HCQC+HW, Rockbridge, OH, US

History

Long before it became a haven for central Ohio hikers, the deep valley of Clear Creek Metro Park was carved over millennia by glacial meltwaters and natural erosion. This geologic process left behind dramatic Black Hand sandstone cliffs, rugged gorges, and deep ravines that echo the scenery of the neighboring Hocking Hills. As Columbus expanded through the 20th century, the park system primarily focused on developing regional parks closer to Franklin County like Blacklick Woods or Blendon Woods. The remote Clear Creek Valley in Rockbridge remained largely untouched, existing as a hidden ecological treasure of rare plant colonies, hemlock forests, and nesting warblers. However, this pristine wilderness faced an existential crisis in the late 1960s when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed a massive public works project.

The federal government drew up plans to dam the valley and transform the entire canyon into a massive recreational reservoir. Realizing that the rising floodwaters would permanently destroy the valley's distinct ecosystem, three visionary private landowners stepped up to defend the land. Known affectionately by park historians as the "Three Bs" of Clear Creek, the Allen F. Beck family, Emily Benua, and Oscar L. Barnebey began strategically coordinating efforts to outmaneuver the federal government. They recognized that the most effective shield against the reservoir was to transfer their land holdings under strict legal protections that a dam project could not easily dissolve.

The first major legal defense fell into place in 1973 when the Beck family of Columbus gifted an initial 1,159 acres to the Columbus Metro Parks board. They attached a strict stipulation requiring that three-quarters of the donated land be formally designated as a protected state nature preserve. Emily Benua reinforced this firewall by leaving her 662-acre estate to the state preserve system in her will, ensuring it would remain a wildlife sanctuary for scientific and aesthetic purposes forever. Meanwhile, Oscar Barnebey’s land, which had hosted a church youth camp since 1928 and later served as an Ohio State University natural resources lab, was eventually acquired by the park system to bridge the properties together. Under the weight of these ironclad environmental restrictions and mounting public advocacy, the federal government officially abandoned the reservoir project.

With the threat of the dam eliminated, Metro Parks spent the next two decades meticulously buying surrounding parcels and drafting a highly specialized master plan. Unlike urban Metro Parks where roughly 20 percent of the footprint is developed for heavy recreation like playgrounds or sports fields, Clear Creek was planned almost entirely for total wilderness conservation. In 1995, Clear Creek Metro Park officially opened its gates to the public with 3,800 acres of protected forest. Local residents quickly embraced the park as a primitive retreat, marveling at local landmarks like "Leaning Lena" -- the massive overhanging rock near the park entrance that is steeped in local folklore.

Since its formal opening, Metro Parks has continued to steadily expand the boundaries of this southern sanctuary through strategic conservation grants and land partnerships. By purchasing adjacent properties like the hemlock-shrouded ravines of Fern Gully from the Arc of Appalachia, the park has grown to encompass over 5,470 total acres. The crown jewel of this expanse remains the Allen F. Beck State Nature Preserve, which blankets over 4,700 acres and stands proudly as the largest dedicated state nature preserve in all of Ohio. Today, lifelong Columbus residents view the park as the ultimate wilderness escape within the system, keeping the visionary legacy of the "Three Bs" alive with every quiet step along the trails.

Map of the Park

Here is a map of Clear Creek.

Summary

For these event, we will hike just under 5 miles on the Creekside Meadows, Fern, and Cemetery Ridge Trails. This is not a hike for beginners -- there are serious inclines here, and there may be leaves on the trails making them slick.

That said, I don't do anything special here beyond wearing my hiking shoes. And if you like Hocking Hills or you've wanted to see Hocking Hills, the advantage of Clear Creek is that it has the same topography as that park, minus all the people: Hocking Hills is always packed, but you usually get Clear Creek to yourself (and it's a half hour closer to Columbus).

Where We'll Meet

We will meet at the Creekside Meadows Picnic Area. This is the first parking area for Clear Creek, and it will be on your left about 2 miles after you've turned onto Clear Creek Rd from U.S. Route 33.

Restrooms? Water Fountains?

There's a latrine where we'll be meeting. But unless you want to drive to the Valley View Picnic Area, there is no running water at Clear Creek (and even Valley View has no sinks or water fountains -- just toilets).

There will be no access to water while we're here, so I would recommend that you bring some of your own, at least for after the hike.

Gas Stations?

There's a Go Mart (and a Subway) at the intersection of Clear Creek Rd and U.S. Route 33, and it's usually reasonably priced. I've stopped here many times on the way to Hocking Hills.

After the Hike

Afterward, we'll head to the highly rated Double Edge Brewing Company in Lancaster for drinks and food. The brewery is about 15-20 minutes away from where we'll be at Clear Creek, but it should be on the way back to Columbus for most of us. Its actual address is 158 W Chestnut St, Lancaster, OH 43130. We should be at the brewery by 4:45 if you can't make the hike and just want to meet us for drinks.

The brewery's food truck is scheduled to be The Pizza Rover.

A Winter Weekend at Punderson State Park

Fri, Jan 15, 2027 · 4:00 PM EST

Punderson Manor Lodge & Conference Center, 11755 Kinsman Rd, Newbury, OH, US

A Brief History of Punderson

Punderson State Park is a hidden gem of Northeast Ohio located in Geauga County, roughly thirty-five miles east of downtown Cleveland. For those familiar with Central Ohio destinations like Alum Creek State Park or Hocking Hills, this park offers a very different kind of natural beauty shaped by prehistoric glaciers. The centerpiece of the park is Punderson Lake, which is a natural glacial kettle lake rather than a man-made reservoir. It stands as one of the largest and deepest natural lakes in Ohio, plunging to depths of over 50 feet. This unique aquatic environment creates an ideal habitat for golden trout, largemouth bass, and bluegill. Today, it serves as a serene oasis for travelers seeking outdoor recreation outside of the state’s major urban centers.

The park owes its name to Lemuel Punderson, an enterprising land agent who became the area's first permanent pioneer settler. Punderson traveled to the region from Connecticut in 1806, eventually marrying his wife Sybil and establishing a homestead along the water. He built a small dam and operated a successful grist mill and distillery on the property. Known for their warm hospitality, the Pundersons made their lakeside home a bustling gathering place for regional travelers. Following Lemuel's death in 1822, locals officially named the body of water "Punderson's Pond" to honor his memory. Lemuel and Sybil remain a permanent part of the landscape, buried side-by-side at the southern tip of the lake.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the area transitioned from a homestead into a popular resort destination. Private investors recognized the recreational potential of the deep, pristine waters and began constructing summer cottages along the hillsides. In 1887, the Wales Hotel opened on the southern end of the grounds, offering dining, dancing, and fireworks. Later, an industrialist named W.B. Cleveland purchased the surrounding land with the dream of creating a private hunting and fishing club. He consolidated over 500 acres of property, ensuring the pristine forest remained intact rather than subdivided for industrial use.

The most iconic feature of the park, a grand English Tudor-style mansion known as Punderson Manor, began construction in 1929. Detroit millionaire Karl Long bought the land and envisioned a sprawling, luxurious rural retreat. However, Long lost his immense fortune in the Great Depression, leaving the structure an unfinished shell for years. The Cleveland family eventually reclaimed the site and repurposed it as a girls' summer camp called Lakefield Camp during the 1930s. The property changed hands one final time in 1948 when the State of Ohio purchased the acreage. State officials completed the ambitious mansion construction, opening it as a public lodge in 1956.

For state park enthusiasts accustomed to modern cabins, Punderson Manor Lodge offers a historic, resort-style experience. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources oversees the historic 31-room manor house and 26 winterized cottages. Over the decades, the state added a championship 18-hole golf course, a disc golf course, and an outdoor pool. Because the park rests inside Ohio's famous northern snow belt, it remains a bustling destination through the winter months. Visitors travel from all over the state for cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, and using the lighted sledding hill.

Beyond outdoor sports, the park is famous across Northeast Ohio for its long history of paranormal lore. Both guests and park staff have reported supernatural encounters inside the historic Tudor manor house for decades. These occurrences include disembodied children's laughter, TVs turning on by themselves, and faucets running in empty rooms. Some locals believe the ghost of Lemuel Punderson himself still roams the halls to check on his old property. The park embraces this spooky reputation by hosting popular haunted history tours and weekend mystery events. It stands today as one of the most historically unique destinations in the entire Ohio state park system.

Maps of Punderson and Ohio

1. Here is a map of the entire park. This is the best single map there is of the area.
2. This is a less-detailed map the park. Its advantage over the previous map is that it shows the actual cabins by number, and it also includes a detailed map of the golf course should you be curious about that for the summer months. It's also better at showing you where you can snowmobile or cross-country ski, and it clearly shows where Sled Hill is (next to the Winter Chalet).
3. Here's a low-quality map of just the hiking trails at the park. It's not as good for this as the first map, but it is a little to make out areas for snowmobiling and cross-country skiing than the second map. Sled Hill is probably even easier to find on this map.
4. Here's a detailed map of the cabins at Punderson by cabin number. I'll say more about our specific cabins for this event, below.
5. While there are no guarantees how relevant it will be for this particular event, here is a map of Punderson's frisbee golf course.
6. Finally, here's an Ohio road map as a PDF, and here's the same Ohio road Ohio road map as a JPG.

A Summary of This Event

I have rented three cabins at Punderson for the weekend of Friday, January 15, 2027, through Sunday, January 17, 2027. This will be for three days and two nights at the park.

For reference, Monday, January 18, 2027, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is a federal holiday in the United States. So, for most people, this will be a three-day weekend.

The specific cabins I've rented are 24, 25, and 26. These are the "Cul de Sac" cabins on Map 4 ("map of the cabins"), above. Here are the details about the cabins from Punderson's website.

The Cost of This Event

Your cost for this event will be $156. This covers lodging for both Friday and Saturday nights ($78 for each night).

The Actual Exchange of Money

Once you sign up for this event, I will send you a private DM (direct message) here on Meetup using the Meetup message system. In that message, I will send you my payment information for PayPal and Venmo. You may use either of these to send me your money.

Sorry, I do not have Zelle.

Once I have your money, I will add you to a group email chat, which will also be on the Meetup message system. This group chat will be the primary way that we communicate with each other.

Cancellations / Refunds

I can't guarantee the ability to get anyone's money back to them without notice at least a few weeks out from the actual event. If you find you can't go, please be sure to let me know as soon as possible, but preferably by December.

"So where is everyone going to be sleeping?"

My plan is to have a boys' cabin, a girls' cabin, and then we'll see what the overall attendee distribution looks like when we make decisions about the third cabin. Because all the cabins have separate bedrooms, that gives us some extra options as well. But boys and girls won't be sleeping in the same rooms.

The queen in cabin 25 will be mine. After that, whoever gives me money first will have first choice of where he or she wants to sleep. Then whoever gives me money second will have second choice, etc.

This is still subject, though, to the overarching condition that the sleeping arrangements, again, will be single-sex. But within that constraint, those who pay me first will get dibs on where they want to sleep.

A Soft Itinerary of the Event

We'll go on a hike on Saturday morning, probably around 7 a.m., but please see my notes on "Winter Equipment," below.

Punderson's Sled Hill, next to their Winter Chalet, is mammoth. They have 5 lanes for sledding; you can use their tow ropes to get back to the top, but only if you've rented a snow tube from the Chalet.

We will go sledding on Saturday. I recommend you just rent a tube at the park so you can use the tow ropes, but nothing prevents you from bringing a tube or sled of your own if you want.

I will also bring board games, and both the Chalet and the Manor are supposed to have some games as well. A list of other activities at Punderson, which of course can be engaged in on an ad hoc basis, can also be found here.

Other specific winter activities available at Punderson include cross country ski trails, snowmobile trails, and fat-tire bike trails, though I will not be leading of these. Please also note that none of the equipment for any of these can be rented at the park; Punderson only rents snow tubes.

The Manor, of course, has an indoor pool (the deep end is five feet). They also have one of those really cool doohickeys that spins the water out of your swimwear in like half a second.

Where We'll Meet / Check-In and Check-Out

The cabins' check-in and check-out times are 4:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m., respectively. Punderson is, however, a public Ohio state park, and you can show up whenever you want (and stay as late as you like). The Manor is also always open.

I'll be at the park early on Friday morning and get checked in as soon as they'll let me. I'll have a key card for everyone when you show up. This card is how you will get into the cabin (if, at some point, no one is there to let you in), and it also is how you get into certain areas of the Manor that are available only to guests. Since you will be staying in a cabin, this makes you a guest of the Manor and thus having privileges to get into all of these areas.

I can't say exactly where I'll be in the park when you arrive, but Punderson's not that big and the Manor and cabins aren't that far apart. Don't worry, just show up at the Manor and we'll find each other.

Getting to Punderson

Google Maps will have no trouble at all getting you to the Manor, and you'll have no GPS issues.

That said, I strongly prefer taking I-271 East to U.S. Route 422 East. But in my experience, Google Maps has a fetish about wanting to take me on Harvard Rd (or sometimes State Route 87, one exit north) instead.

You can certainly do this and you'll get there just fine. But if you want to stay on the expressway for as long as possible, ignore Maps and take 422 East. The time is comparable in any case, and you're not going to get lost no matter what you do.

Food

Our cabin will have a full kitchen (and an outdoor grill, though we're unlikely to be using this in January). The Manor also has a restaurant and a pub from which you can get food between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Here are there breakfast and lunch/dinner menus. They also have pizza you can get for takeout.

See also the section, "What I'll Bring," below.

Winter Equipment

As mentioned above, this area of the state can get a lot of snow due to the effects of nearby Lake Erie. In central Ohio, hiking shoes are generally all you ever need. But at Punderson, you might need a good tall hiking boot for the snow if you want to hike; with just shoes, the snow will get into them and melt and then you will have wet feet in (potentially) freezing weather -- not the best combination.

You also may need ice spikes. There are really three types of ice spikes. In a display of my imaginative qualities, I'll call them type 1, type 2, and type 3.

I own and have used types 1 and 2. I prefer type 1, but with wet sticky snow of the kind you are likely to find at Punderson, type 1 spikes are really unusable. The snow will stick and ball up and turn to literal balls of ice stuck to your spikes. You'll have to take the spikes off because you can't just kick the ice off and you'll get tired of stopping every two minutes. If there's no snow or little snow, or if the snow is dry, then type 1 spikes are my favorite and the ones I will always wear. But you can't depend on them at a place like Punderson.

For deep wet snow, you're far better off with type 2 spikes. Though they don't work quite as well on pure ice as type 1, they work well enough and unlike type 1, they're usable in copious amounts of wet snow. I own both of types of spikes, but if you're only buying one type for Punderson, get type 2.

I've never used type 3 spikes, but I suspect they would operate very similarly to type 2 (though I do wonder if they wouldn't potentially freeze between the coils on wet snow).

What I'll Bring

Here are the items I will bring:

• Paper towels
• Paper plates
• Plastic silverware
• Aluminum foil
• Plastic wrap
• Dish liquid
• Dish brush
• Trash bags
• Board games
• Keurig coffeemaker / breakfast blend coffee

Some of these are, of course, items that the lodge often provides. But even for those items, in my experience running our Maumee Bay event, it's actually easier to just have plenty of them at the ready instead of having to run up to the lodge for them. So I'll bring them.

The board games I'll bring because last time I didn't bring Secret Hitler, and I wish I had.

Zoom Call

Just prior to the actual event, we will have a Zoom call. This will be related primarily to us working out the arrangement of all the other items (e.g., food, beverages) that people may wish to bring.

We did not hold a Zoom call prior to Maumee Bay, and as it turned out, we found that having a chat ahead of time would have made it much easier to coordinate who was bringing what.

This call obviously can't be mandatory, and it isn't. And it can't last longer than 40 minutes (unless we schedule a second call, which might or might not be overkill), because I'm a free (not paid) member of Zoom, and I can't run calls that go longer than 40 minutes.

I can't and wouldn't require people to be on this call; some people always have conflicting schedules anyway no matter what you do. But I can say that I will encourage you to make this call if you can.

I'd like to do it the Monday before the event (so, in this case, Monday, January 11) at 6 p.m. EST. But we can also play this by ear a little bit.