Just to give a quick update as to what we have been doing and where we are currently in our travels. We were gassing up Grace and a stranger came over and asked if we had ever heard of the movie The Shawshank Redemption. Well, not only had we heard of it, but I had personally seen it more than three times. He goes on to tell us that the film was made right there in his town about a mile away and if we wanted to see the prison; which is really called Ohio State Reformatory, he would gladly take us there. We said "OK!".
So, here goes: This is a long shot of Ohio State Reformatory known in the movie as Shawshank Prison.
According to the audio tour that we took, it was built from blueprints that were designed by Leonardo D Vinci after the pattern of a french castle named Chateau d' Chompre or something like that. I don't speak french!
The first room on the right as you enter was a gift shop. It had replicas of the trays that the prisoners used in the cafeteria or whatever they call it in prison.
The second room was a very vivid reminder of what the end of some of the prisoners was. According to the records, no prisoners were every executed on the prison grounds. This is an exact replica, though of the chair that was used to appease the law.
This is one of the wardens that was serving in the 1940's when the prison was in it's "hay day" if a prison can have such a thing. James Adams was his name.
This is an actual straight jacket that was used to restrain "unruly" prisoners. the small cap sitting next to it was used in executions. I have no idea why they felt the need to put on the head of a person they were about to kill. Sounds like a bad fashion statement to me!
Some stuff that the captains had during their time of service.
This was the Warden's dinning room. His entire family lived in this wing of the reformatory. The quarters rose to the third floor of the building.
As did this grand stair case!
A lot had been done to restore the downstairs area, but there was still a lot of work to be done in the upper rooms. This was the family room for the Warden.
Here is a picture of the living quarters in the 1940's.
If you have seen the movie, you may remember a character by the name of Brooks. This poster contained the last letter that Mr. Brooks wrote after his release from prison and before hanging himself in his hotel room. Mr. Brooks had been incarcerated many many years when he was suddenly released from prison as an old man. He did not know how to make it on the outside world and had no other family.
I tried to capture a picture of the last letter that Mr. Brooks wrote.
This is the man who played "Mr. Brooks". Mr. Brooks was sentenced in 1905 and paroled in 1947. The actor that played his character was James Whitmore. Whitmore passed away in 2009.
There were many prisoners that lived at this reformatory all of their lives. So, naturally when they passed, they were buried on the grounds of the reformatory. The cemetery is not open to the public, but there was a picture that I was able to take a shot of.
Now, what in the world is he doing in prison? haha. I WAS NOT going in there, y'all.
there was a chain blocking the path, but here is a shot of just how massive this prison was. There were two men to every cell.
This was a picture of a movie scene when the prison guards realized that "Andy" had escaped from the prison.
There were a lot more pictures, but I didn't have time to upload them. So, this is it folks.
And this guy is making sure we all get out before closing....:-).
Keep trippin!
