Ohio Penitentiary cell block   Save
Columbus Dispatch Photograph Collection
Description: Cell block photograph inside the Ohio Penitentiary, located at 254 West Spring Street in Columbus, Ohio. The Ohio Pen opened in 1834 and continued to house prisoners until 1979. In 1930, the Ohio Penitentiary was the site of the worst prison fire in American history, a disaster which claimed the lives of 322 inmates. By April 1955, the Ohio Penitentiary housed 5,235 prisoners, the most ever incarcerated at the institution. Most inmates were removed from the prison by 1972 following completion of the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. The Ohio Penitentiary was officially closed in 1984, and the abandoned site was demolished in 1997 to allot space for Nationwide Arena. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P245_B03_F01_001
Subjects: Ohio Penitentiary (Columbus, Ohio); Prisons--Ohio; Ohio History--State and Local Government--Corrections
Places: Columbus (Ohio); Franklin County (Ohio)