W E S T V I R G I N I A P E N I T E N T I A R Y H I S T O R Y
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West
Virginia succeeded from Virginia and became a state in 1863. because the state
penitentiary was in the Virginia area, it left West Virginia with no state
penitentiary. The first governer of the state asked for money to build one, but
was turned down by the legislature. They told him to get an estimate for
renovating the county prison in Ohio county for use as a temporary state
penitentiary. He did this, but the amount was more than what the legislature was
willing to dish out. That left the state with only one option: use the
unimproved ohio county prison for a penitentiary. twenty-two felons from across
the state were sent to this prison. coupled with the ohio county prisoners
already there, the place was filled to capacity. again, the governor asked the
legislature for money to build a new state penitentiary. denied again. the ohio
county prison was a poor place of confinement for the many felons in the state.
nine escaped and were never recaptured. it was not large enough for workshops,
so the prisons did nothing all day long. this proved to be a burden on the state
cost wise.
after the civil war, the governor asked for money for a new penitentiary. he met
no resistance this time. they passed a bill to construct it in moundsville, just
10 miles away from where the state capital was at that time. in 1966 two state
officials were sent to moundsville to find a site for the prison. they found a
10 acre area of land which sat on the largest excavated adena indian burial
ground in the united states. the area surrounding this ground was also a burying
ground where religious camp meetings were held. a board of control was
established to plan out the foundation of this new penitentiary. they visited
the northern illinois penitentiary at joilet and decided that west virginia's
should be modeled after this one. they built it in a gothic style with huge
stone walls and reasonably small prison cells. it was a self contained unit with
multi-tiered cell blocks, workshops, a mess hall, a chapel, a hospital, a power
plant, and offices for the prison officials. there were 240 cells in total. 60
on each floor.
the initial components of the prison were to be built at the price of $160,000.
the rest of the prison would be built by the convicts to reduce cost. g.s.
mcfadden was appointed superintendent. however, despite all the planning, the
building of the penitentiary costed in excess of $360,000 and took seven years
to construct instead of the estimated two.
originally the prison housed both men and women, however the women's facility
was moved to a different location in 1947. some of the shops which the prisons
worked in were the shirt factory, carpenter, shoe, blacksmith, buggy whip, and
wagon shops. later on a paintshop and a woodshop were added. license plates were
the most common items made in the prison. prisoners were also given the
opportunity to work in the coal mines to retrieve coal for the heating of the
prison. in addition to working in these shops prisoners also performed
mechanical work on state vehicles, worked in the kitchen, and assisted in the
infirmary. opportunities were given to the prisoners to work out and stay fit,
play sports, and continue getting an education.
the majority of prisoners only served a few years for breaking and entering or
theft. they were only locked in their cells at night. however, there were some
inmates who were dangerous and confined to their cells for 22 hours a day. they
were seperated from the general prison in a section in the north hall. for
extremely violent prisoners, there were hangings and electrocutions. 84 people
were hanged and 9 were electrocuted.
