Hidden In West Virginia's Panhandle Is A Once-Notorious, Now-Abandoned Prison With Ghostly Appeal And Lore

If the words "abandoned and haunted Gothic prison" don't tickle your fancy, then it might be time to reassess some life priorities. If you live in the United States, especially somewhere within Appalachia or even the West Virginia panhandle, you're in luck. You're only one quick drive and a $15 guided tour fee away from prowling the now-rotted halls of West Virginia Penitentiary, an imposing facility that witnessed riots, fires, and the execution of about 100 inmates. And bonus: You might even leave with a ghostly companion who'll serve as an eternal memento of your sojourn.

Also referred to as Moundsville Penitentiary after Moundsville, West Virginia where it's located, West Virginia Penitentiary was opened in 1876 and only closed recently in 1995. It originally held 251 male inmates, many of whom helped build the very walls that stand to this day. In the early 1900s the prison grounds were basically a self-sustaining village with a hospital, smithy, tailor, bakery, carpenter's shop, and more. But by the late 20th century, the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation decided to give up the ghost — so to speak — on their state's intimidating, fortress-like prison.  

Now, West Virginia Penitentiary has been wisely converted into a money-making tourist attraction for paranormal fans and seekers of the macabre. This includes cheaper guided tours, more expensive free-roaming tours, for-real ghost hunts, and overnight stays for the truly brave. There are unaltered prison cells throughout the facility, but also set pieces designed for maximum scares, including a Halloween haunted house.

If West Virginia Penitentiary wasn't a proper business and tourist site, it'd be every urban explorer's dream. It's decrepit, but not falling in on itself, and looks very much like what it must have looked like 10, 20, 50, or even 100 years ago. Patches of peeling wall paint stretch down long cell blocks full of rusted cell doors and 5 ft.-by-7 ft. cells. In many ways, the most fulfilling part of a trip to West Virginia Penitentiary is walking by these cells and imagining the lives of those inside dwindling away till death — or execution.

For those interested in visiting and soaking up this creepiness in the way that only firsthand visits allow, West Virginia Penitentiary offers a full range of options. The most modest of these options is an in-and-out, 90-minute guided tour for $15. If you want to poke around by yourself, there's a generous 4-hour tour that allows access to areas not available on the guided tour, like the boiler room, the recreation yards, the kitchen and cafeteria, and most disturbing of all, the psych ward. But, this costs $100. There's ghost hunt versions of each of these tours — guided vs. un-guided — with the latter lasting six hours and running overnight for groups as large as 20. This costs $1,099 and requires signing a waiver. 

For those wanting a crafted, haunted house experience (around Halloween, no less), there's the teen-friendly "The Dungeon" Haunted House opening in late September. There's even an escape room, Escape the Pen: The Execution.

We say that West Virginia Penitentiary is "hidden," but it's definitely not hidden to the residents of Moundsville. There's even a pizza place right across the street, DeFelice Bros Pizza, so you can chow down on your pie whilst pondering the everlasting torment of the spirits trapped within the prison. There's also a 2,000-year-old burial mound — Grave Creek Mound — next to West Virginia Penitentiary to add to the area's allure and morbid mystique. Visitors can easily spot the penitentiary because it's the only structure in town with those Sauron-looking towers on the front.

Moundsville, West Virginia itself, however, is a bit harder to spot. Looking at a map, you'll quickly notice that Moundsville is encased in forests except for its western side, which abuts the Ohio River. Ohio is right on the other side. The West Virginian town of Wheeling sits squarely north from Moundsville along Route 250, which connects to the closest major city, Pittsburgh. It's not too much of a trek, at under 90 minutes from Pittsburgh along I-70 West. But it's not exactly a widely traveled route, either. That being said, Wheeling is known as a charming little city with some outdoor recreation, so you could always make a day of it and build a Wheeling visit into your deathly prison tour.

West Virginia Penitentiary has injected tourism-focused sensibilities into Moundsville, which in 2023 had a population of less than 8,000. This means that there's a few other hotel choices for an overnight stay besides paying $1,000 to sleep in the prison.