Ohio Penitentiary
.jpg) Ohio Penitentiary viewed from Spring Street in 1931
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| Location | Columbus, Ohio |
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| Coordinates | 39°58′3.25″N 83°0′29.92″W / 39.9675694°N 83.0083111°WCoordinates: 39°58′3.25″N 83°0′29.92″W / 39.9675694°N 83.0083111°W |
| Status | Demolished |
| Population | 5,235 (as of 1955) |
| Opened | 1834 |
The Ohio Penitentiary, also known as the Ohio State Penitentiary, was a prison operated from 1834 to 1984 in downtown Columbus, Ohio, in what is now known as the Arena District. The prison housed 5,235 prisoners at its peak in 1955. Conditions in the prison have been described as "primitive," and the facility was eventually replaced by the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, a maximum security facility in Lucasville. During its operation, it housed several well-known inmates, including 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. A separate facility for women prisoners was completed within the walls of the Ohio Penitentiary in 1837. The buildings were demolished in 1998.
On April 21, 1930, a major fire killed 322 inmates and seriously injured 150. The fire was the deadliest prison fire in United States history. The fire broke out on scaffolding erected for the construction of an extension. Reports say that many guards refused to unlock cells when smoke entered the cell block and left the prisoners in their cells, although some did provide help. Some inmates overpowered a guard and took his keys, which they used to rescue other prisoners. However, a riot developed and firefighters arriving to fight the blaze were attacked with rocks.
A cordon of penitentiary guards was deployed about the towering prison walls. Other squads took up vantage points in guard towers and by this time 500 soldiers from Fort Hayes, a local military post, were on the scene. Machine guns were placed at the gates and on the walls. Bayonets were fixed and the troopers were ordered to shoot to kill. A troop of National Guardsmen soon augmented the regulars, and 30 minutes after the fire started the prison was completely surrounded.
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