Roseville Prison
Where: Roseville
When: 2005
Status: Abandoned
The Roseville prison was one of those places I'd always heard about but never visited. What I never really realized is how close it is to Moxahala Park in Zannesville. On a recent check up on Moxahala I decided to give the prison a try.
The prison is actually pretty easy to find if you're in roseville. Its right on what appears to be the main road through the small town. Right as you're leaving town you can see the tower. The prison is on the opposite side of the road, first noted by some small abandoned houses, and then by the larger cell block building. This prison was one of a series of remote prisions related to the main state pen in Columbus Ohio. The inmates that were well behaved and wanted to do work duty were shipped out to Roseville and Junction City for work. Both the pen and Junction City are featured elsewhere on the site. |
The main cellblock building |
Roseville is now the only one of the three left standing. The Junction City prison was destroyed in 2005 and the Main State Pen was destroyed in the late 1990s to make way for the Columbus Blue Jackets arena.
Tower and ballfield score board. |
The coolest thing about the Roseville Prison is that the towers are still standing. Most of the cells are gone like they always are in these old prisons, but there are other signs of prison live still around Roseville. The field next to the prison with a wall and fence was used for prison baseball games. The score board is still standing on the large wall. Inside of some of the buildings are old movie theater style pews. I'm not certain that they are original. There are bars over the main entrance door and some of the windows. There are a few small cells left on the first floor. The Roseville Prison also was used as a haunted house for a while, as was the State Pen in downtown Columbus. |
My trip to the prison was relatively uneventful. It was freezing cold and it was getting late, so it was really dark inside many of the buildings. The sky had that dreary grey look to it making it that much less appealing. By the time it was all said and done I was depressed... it didn't help that it was my birthday. Another day older, poorer, and I'm standing in a crumbling prison...
So what else can I say. The prison is certainly a cool visit, but don't do it in the dead of winter. I didn't end up seeing the roof or either of the houses because the liquid on my eyes had frozen and my eyelids had frozen closed. Maybe not, but it was chilly and I had a nice warm car waiting for me. No word on any future plans for the building or land, so I have the feeling this one will be around for a while |
Winners get set free! |
The Prison
 |
 |
The
building from a distance. |
These
style seats were stashed in various areas around the building. |
 |
 |
Building
where a big fat guy sits and reads playboy while bad guys sneak out. |
This
is one of three towers. This is across the main road from the prison. |
 |
 |
Run!! |
Remains
of the haunted house. |
NOTE: Your browser's pop up blocker may prevent you from using the gallery correctly. If so, you should be able to change it to allow content from my page. There is nothing harmful on my page, its simply a protection against a useful application that some people do use maliciously.