The West Virginia Penitentiary’s cruel and unusual history

The former West Virginia Penitentiary is now known for its spooky looks and ghost tours, but its history of violence, riots and escapes is equally as haunting. -- Courtesy of the West Virginia Penitentiary

The former West Virginia Penitentiary is now known for its spooky looks and ghost tours, but its history of violence, riots and escapes is equally as haunting.

The gothic-style penitentiary sits in the most unexpected location in Moundsville -- right in the middle of the town’s residential neighborhoods. It seems like an odd location, but when the land was purchased in 1866 it was outside city limits which expanded over the years to surround the property.

As Moundsville grew, so too did West Virginia -- and the need for more room for prisoners. Over time, the penitentiary was expanded to try to keep up with its growing population, but overcrowding continued to be an issue, leading to escapes, riots and violence. At one point, the penitentiary made it on the U.S. Department of Justice’s list of most dangerous correctional facilities.

There are reports that by the 1960s the penitentiary was so crowded that as many as three prisoners would be put in a five-by-seven-foot cell. The building, which had an official capacity of about 650, reached around 2,000 at its peak. Outdated facilities led conditions in the penitentiary to be even worse.

In March 1973, a group of about 40 inmates held five guards hostage demanding better conditions. Two inmates were stabbed in the chaos and another was killed. 

In total, the riot lasted 24 hours before negotiations between the inmates and Gov. Arch Moore ended with the governor accepting 15 demands by the prisoners, including things like ten solitary confinement cells in the building’s basement be removed, rules and regulations for prisoners and guards be written and enforced equally and clean sheets.

Following the negotiations, the five unharmed guards were freed and the body of Willie Hale was removed. Hale was reportedly targeted in the chaos due to his perceived favorable relationship with the warden, reports said.

The riot, which caused thousands in damage, was the first of three major events in the penitentiary’s waning years that highlighted the facility’s outdated and worsening conditions.

In November 1979, fifteen prisoners escaped the penitentiary, which led to the death of an off-duty state trooper who happened to be driving by at the time and attempted to stop the prisoners. Ronald Turney Williams, who was accused of fatally shooting the trooper, spent more than a year on the run, allegedly committing other crimes before his arrest in 1981.

The gothic-style West Virginia Penitentiary sits in the most unexpected location in Moundsville -- right in the middle of the town’s residential neighborhoods. -- Courtesy of West Virginia State Archives

Seven years later, a New Year's Day riot erupted with more than a dozen prison workers taken hostage. Although none of the hostages were injured, three inmates died during the three-day standoff where rioters demanded better conditions and policies.

As a result of a 1981 petition filed by inmate Robert Crain, the West Virginia Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that conditions at the West Virginia Penitentiary were, essentially, deplorable and resulted in cruel and unusual punishment. After rejecting compliance plans by the Department of Corrections, the court concluded the only alternative was to close the facility altogether. 

Nine years later the penitentiary was closed and the remaining inmates were moved to the more modern Mt. Olive Correctional Facility. Today, the West Virginia Penitentiary serves as a tourist attraction, training facility and a reminder of the not-so-distant past.