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West Virginians may have always been simple folk living off
the land but the turmoil of the Civil War years gave
rise to an ever-growing number of violent and dangerous criminals
that needed housing. The solution was to build the West
Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville - a state-run
prison that would hold - and hopefully reform - those convicted
of the most serious crimes. At its peak in the 1960s the jail
housed 2,000 inmates but it was notoriously dogged by riots,
murders, and escapes until it was finally closed down in 1995.
For many, the prevalence of capital punishment in the Southern
states stems from the ugly legacy of slave times when some
lives were inherently less precious than others. Even today,
the South accounts for 80 percent of executions in
the United States with a disproportionately large number of
Black Americans facing the electric chair or
lethal injection. During the history of the prison, a
total of 94 men were executed. The last hanging took place
in 1949 but in 1951 the electric chair Old Sparky,
ironically built by an inmate, was put into action and that
year nine men were strapped into it and filled with lethal
volts of electricity. West Virginia became the twelfth State
- the only one in the south - to abolish the death penalty
in 1959.
History of the Penitentiary
The imposing stone building was constructed in the castellated
Gothic style and adorned with turrets and battlements
which give it a military feel. The first phase of construction
was complete in 1876. The prison made money from inmate labor,
and prisoners did jobs to support the prison community including
blacksmith, carpenter, coal miner, stone mason, brick layer,
tailor, baker, and hospital orderly. The prison became virtually
a self-sufficient business, taking little money from the government.
Prisoners were also given an education from the start of the
twentieth century with the construction of a school and library
in 1900. A vast construction project to double its size began
in 1929.
Great escapes
In spite of the six-foot wide walls and five-foot deep foundations,
escapes were embarrassingly frequent. There were 510 successful
attempts between 1960 and 1995 including a jailbreaker commandeering
a prison truck, hiding in a cement mixer, and escaping through
a good old-fashioned tunnel. One escaped felon wrote "wish
you were here" postcards to fellow convicts, while Fast
Freddie holds the escapee record with 13 attempts.
Riots
West Virginia Penitentiary already had a reputation as one
of the country's most violent pens. The final years of the
West Virginia Pen were by marked by many disturbances
including riots and escapes. The prison had two severe riots:
in March 1973 five guards and two convicts were hospitalized
and one inmate left dead after a convict committed arson and
a full-scale riot and fire caused chaos to ensue. It was in
the dining room at dinner time on New Years Day that a riot
started in 1986 over filthy living conditions, the prisoners
believed they were treated 'like dogs.' Prison delights included
raw sewage flowing from pipes, rats in the cells, and maggots
in food. For 53 hours, a gang took sixteen prison staff as
hostages; their demands for Governor Moore: "better medical
services, better living quarters, a pizza, and some women."
The Governor refused to negotiate, the scene turned nasty
and three inmates were killed. The prisoners lived in cells
a mere seven-feet by five-feet in size.
By April 1995, West Virginia Penitentiary was silent, empty,
and devoid of mission for the first time in its 129 years
history. However, like all good prison stories, this is a
tale of redemption.The once-feared Penitentiary is now a teacher
- engaging people in prison history and teaching today's prison
guards the latest tricks of the trade.
Touring the Penitentiary
For a real life taste of the long penitence depicted in the
film Shawshank Redemption, in a prison as unforgiving
as Oz, convicts on day release can take a tour of West
Virginia Penitentiary with Paul Kirby, former governor
of prisons.
Prison life
Tours include visits to the infamous Wheel (the revolving
door through which prisoners entered and left the prison),
the exercise yard where prisoners fought and swapped
forbidden goods, the original gallows where prisoners
where hung and of course "Old Sparky", the
electric chair. Visitors can also explore the five- by seven-foot
cells - including the chilling Maximum Security and
Death Row - many of which are decorated by revealing inmate
art and poetry. |
