Between 1886 and 1910 the Ohio state reformatory was built. In 1896 is when they opened the state reformatory. The thing is that the prisoners weren't treated right since the opening in 1896 - 1990 there were more than 200 inmates dead in the reformatory including two guards during the operation.

In 1950 the warden's wife had fueled rumors of a female spirit that lingers the reformatory; they had even claimed that they saw moving shadows, hearing whispering voices, slamming doors, and feeling sudden temperature drop.

There were supposed to be 1,000 inmates housed. The thing was that they housed as many as 3,000 inmates at its peak which led to severe overcrowding.

The facility wasn't just characterized by violence but also by abuse plus with the reports of sadistic behavior by some of the guards.

During this time in history there were a few things also happening outside the reformatory's walls at the time. The women's suffrage between 1848 - 1920, Labor movements between the 18th and 19th century, Last but not least the civil rights act between 1954 - 1968. These were the three things that were happening before and after the Ohio state reformatory opened.

In 1990 there was a lawsuit to close the reformatory due to the severe overcrowding so they closed the reformatory in 1990 the same year the lawsuit was made.