Moundsville State Penitentiary Investigation and Pictures

The West Virginia Penitentiary was built with convict labor from 1867-1876 at a cost of $363,061. Modeled
after the Northern Illinois Penitentiary at Joliet, the prison's Gothic architecture reflects the predominant
prison architectural style in England and America at the time. Over the next 120 years, a total of 94 men
were executed. Between 1899-1949, eighty-five men were hung. In 1951 the State began using an electric
chair. The State of West Virginia abolished the death penalty in 1959 but not before "Ole Sparky" could take
out 9 more convicts.

The West Virginia State Penitentiary is well known for its violent history. During its 120 year history there
were two full blown riots, 94 executions and unimaginably deplorable conditions. For most of the years in
operation Moundsville maintained a position on the Department of Justice's top ten most violent correctional
facilities list. The prisoners had a common mentality of kill or be killed, which made the prison a "hot-bed" of
violent behavior. Housed in Moundsville walls were the worst of the worst of criminals, which included many
"lifers" who had nothing left to lose when it came to killing.

Nearly 120 after the prison opened, in 1982, Judge Arthur Recht ruled that the Moundsville facility was in
violation of the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. He also ruled that the
prison violated an inmate's right to rehabilitation. In 1986, after the worst riot in the prison's history, the
West Virginia Supreme Court ordered the penitentiary to be closed. This process took until 1995, when the
state's oldest and largest prison finally shut its doors.

The following year, in an effort to preserve this historic landmark and to stem the town's economic loss due
to its closing, the Moundsville Economic Development Council opened the prison to the public, offering guided
tours. Since that time, visitors have flocked by the thousands to the facility, which is now included on the
National Register of Historic Places. In 1996, U.S. News and World Report named the former West Virginia
Penitentiary one of the best 500 places to visit in the United States. In 2000 the prison also began offering
overnight ghost hunts, for a fee of $50, that give you opportunity to legally roam anywhere in the prison for
an entire night.

On September 19, 2003 the W.V.G.H. made our first trip to Moundsville. It was exhausting but the
experience was well worth the experience and the reasonable $50 fee. I can also say without a doubt it will
not be the night we spend in Moundsville State Pen.

Location

Moundsville Penitentiary
(aka West Virginia State Prison)
Moundsville, West Virginia

Date

September 19, 2003

Time: (Begin - End)

6:00pm - 5:00am

Weather

Fair ( Mostly Cloudy Skies)
Temp: 62° @ 6:30pm falling to 51° @ 5:00 am

Moon Phase, GMF,
and Solar X-Rays

	Waning Crescent				Solar X-rays: Geomagnetic:

Equipment:

EMF Meter (4), Digital Still Cameras (4), 35mm Camera (2), IR Thermometer (2), Hi8
Video Cam (3), MiniDV Video Cam (1), Dig. Voice Recorder (3)

Experiences

11:00 pm:	Had shirt pulled in the Sugar Shack
1:50 am:	Unidentified loud crash in the Machine shop, could not identify the source
2:30 am:	Investigator claims she sees shadows in the kitchen of the new cafeteria area. Her sighting is backed up by 2 separate people
3:35 am:	Sugar shack unidentified noises and cold spot verified with the IR thermometer -7° drop localized to area around support column. Cold spot was accompanied by a spike averaging 3-5 milligauss on 2 separate EMF meters around the same support column.
4:15 am:	Cold spot in infirmary confirmed with IR Thermometer -9° drop in temperature localized in one corner of the room. No EMF fluctuations detected in area