by Maria Schonberg --------------- for the Ohio State Reformatory - scroll down this page

You may know more about the Mansfield area than you think, even if you've never spent much time in North Central Ohio. It seems Hollywood discovered the area long ago and currently revisits most often when shooting movie prison scenes, so you may have visited vicariously while enjoying a flick, say Air Force One. Located within an easy hour's drive from Columbus and Cleveland, you can discover the destinations similar to the ones on the silver screen and others that have connected Mansfield with Hollywood for decades.

Air Force One courtesy of Columbia - Tri Star Productions

Long before the Ohio Film Commission, formed in the mid-70s, began touting Richland county's desirable shooting locations Pulitzer prize-winning novelist and conservationist Louis Bromfield introduced his pastoral Malabar Farm to the Hollywood set. One of his most notable friends, Humphrey Bogart brought his bride, Lauren Bacall, to Bromfield's idyllic surroundings for their wedding back in May, 1945. You can recall that day during a tour of Bromfield's "Big House" where you'll peek at memorabilia as well as the wedding suite, polished staircase and gardens.

Bogie and Bacall weren't the only celebrities to visit Bromfield

Although the Bogie and Bacall nuances, like photographs and a copy of their wedding certificate, flourish throughout the home, they weren't the only celebrities to visit Bromfield, who himself made it to Hollywood as a screenwriter for movie mogul, Sam Goldwin. Diaries kept by Bromsfield's daughter, Ellen, retell anecdotes of other stars. There's one about Kay Francis and the help she lent during the birth of a calf in Bromfield's barn. Cattle still find a home here, but the original barn burned and has since been replaced with a replica of the former. Then there's the story of James Cagney selling vegetables from a stand in front of the spring running aside the Malabar Inn. The Inn, a stagecoach stop a century before, now caters to visitors serving a full service menu. These days, knowledgeable guides bring those days back to life as you visit the 32-room mansion.

Bromfield spent childhood days playing at Oak Hill Cottage, a few blocks from downtown Mansfield and patterned "Shane's Castle" in his 1924 novel, The Green Bay Tree after his memories there. While not on the hit movie circuit, this 1847 Gothic house of seven gables, operated by the Richland County Historical Society, is one of the area's little-known treasures full of chimneys, fireplaces and unique furnishings. It's open on Sundays for public tours, but groups can arrange a visit most any time.

After Bromfield, who placed many more of his novels in Richland county, died of cancer in 1957, his memorable farm and 917 acres of crops and woods eventually became a state park, the only one which includes a working farm in addition to the camping, hiking, picnicking and recreational opportunities you'd expect.

Shawshank Redemption courtesy of Castle Rock Entertainment

If you viewed Shawshank Redemption, a box office hit a few years back, you would have visited Malabar Farm's Pugh Cabin. A short walk up the trail toward the sugar shack, caves and waterfalls leads past this a multi-use cabin in the woods where hearthside cooking and old-time banjo music is a far more commonplace occurrence than the one Tim Robbins portrays in the movie's opening scene.

Robbins co-star, Morgan Freeman, recalled being in Ohio four times for Hollywood by the time he arrived in Mansfield. While filming here, his wife sent along his horse for companionship, recalls Eve Lapolla, manager of the Ohio Film Commission. Though much of Shawshank Redemption was shot on sight at the old Ohio Reformatory, a $1M set in a local warehouse replicated the many tiers of the historic site's original cellblocks, she added.

Brubaker and Tango and Cash brought the stars here earlier. And most recently, the prison scene in Air Force One put the reformatory back up on the silver screen. Credit for the prison's current restoration effort goes to the Mansfield Preservation Society who finally stopped the wrecking ball from destroying what's left of the castle-like Ohio State Reformatory, a local landmark since the late 1800s. Now, they offer seasonal tours so visitors can actually visit movie sets, the "hole," warden's office and the East and West cellblocks. Trivia buffs take note: Guinness Book of World Records says the West cellblock is the world's largest freestanding cellblock with six tiers.

Tango & Cash courtesy of Warner Brothers

Sorry no children under seven or pregnant women can tour because of the lead-based paint used in the old prison, but for $5, others can tour beginning May 17 and running Sundays through October. If you combine a prison tour with a trip out to Malabar State Farm, allow plenty of time to soak up Richland county and Hollywood.

Ohio State Reformatory

THE OHIO STATE REFORMATORY With the cornerstone laid in 1886, this castle-like prison was designed as a reformatory for young offenders. Abandoned in 1990, the original cellblocks and administration areas remain intact. Four major motion pictures have been filmed on location including "The Shawshank Redemption"and "Air Force One". Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, tour admissions are applied directly to the preservation of the building. Donations accepted, gift shop. Not handicapped accessible.

"MANSFIELD'S GREATEST DAY", proclaimed the Richland Shield and Banner headline on November 4, 1886. The cornerstone laid that day evolved into a magnificent Chateauesque structure. Noted architect Levi T. Scofield designed the Ohio State Reformatory to resemble medieval chateaux and castles. Spiritual and uplifting architecture was Intended to provide a transcendent religious experience reforming the behavior of young male prisoners.

The East Cell Block, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, houses the world's largest free standing steel cell block rising 6 tiers. Three major motion pictures featuring OSR were Harry and Walter Go to New York, Tango and Cash, and Shawshank Redemption.

The mission of the Mansfield Reformatory Preservation Society, cooperating with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, is to save this magnificent structure as a museum facility. A fund raising process of donations and grants will preserve the historic and architectural importance of OSR and infuse a sense of civic pride by bringing nationwide recognition and tourism to Mansfield.

The Ohio State Reformatory - listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

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