west virginia penitentiary

The tour guide was very enthusiastic, knowledgeable and told us some great stories about the Penitentiary. I enjoyed the historical aspect and the unique experience. There were some movies and or TV shows that were filmed here. This place is definitely worth a visit.

We took a special trip to Moundsville from Charleston, WV just to visit here. We had went to the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum a few years ago and knew this was somewhere we wanted to see as well. We took the daytime history tour. Our guide (I'm afraid I don't remember her name) was great and very knowledgeable. It was definitely something I would recommend to anyone who likes history. I know that ghost tours and haunted house tours are well liked as well. The prison itself is something to see even if you don't take the tour, and is right across the street from the burial mound, which is another good spot to check out in the area.

Very interesting. Friendly tour guide. A lot of history.Great history in the gift shop as well. My family and I will definitely be back. .

Our tour guide Ralph was wonderful! We were entertained, educated, and yes, creeped out at times. He told us many stories and even some updates of the prisoners. The architecture of the building is stunning. Definately worth the time and cost.

Right in my backyard is a huge, looming, Gothic structure. For years I have driven past the penitentiary, around the penitentiary. I have listened to stories about haunted tales, famous inmates, incredible haunted houses. On a clear October day, under a brilliant blue sky, my family made the trek to the penitentiary and took the 1 and a half hour tour. As we were waiting for our group to line up and out time slot to begin, we wandered around the gift shop and the mini museum, full of artifacts, letters, pictures. That alone was so interesting - we were all shaking our head in disbelief. Our tour guide as an older gentleman, who had every little bit of information about the penitentiary stuffed into his head! He was an amazing guide - quirky, funny, and just full of interesting tidbits. I'm a bit of a scaredy cat, so a night time tour would not be for me. This day tour however, was still filled with fright - let's face it - the whole place is just scary looking- and my family and I all were both entertained, and informed about this great piece of history, sitting in our back yard.

Overall, this was a fun experience. The tour guide was knowledgeable; the confined cells each told a story of the individual that was forced to maintain stability in such a secluded and other wise unrealistic realm that would make the clearest mind go insane. Pretty neat. A few of our pictures revealed multiple visible orbs. The biggest let down was the group that we got stuck with; very loud and obnoxious, but otherwise I would highly recommend taking this tour.

On a motorcycle ride down the Ohio river on the Ohio side I seen sign for this state penitentiary. So I cross over the river and had to check this place out. Just made the tour time and what a neat place. Kind of spooky very old learen some go history here on this tour. Glad I took the time out from my ride to stop here.

Although the penitentiary is getting a tad run down, it is still fascinating to tour. The guides are always very friendly and usually have some very interesting stories and facts about prisoners and life in the pen. The cost is reasonable, however, I'd really like to be able to tour more of the penitentiary. Unfortunately, due to safety concerns, several areas are off limits. If you like to be scared as well, they put on a wonderful haunted attraction for Halloween.

It was a bright but cold and windy day which made the tour more real. The guide was knowledgeable and funny.We went into the old cellblock and new cell block. Both convinced me I don't want to go to jailIt was a cold and windy day which made the tour more real. The guide was very good.We toured the old and new cell blocks. Both convinced me I don't want to go to jail!!!The site is in need of repair; it has been vacant for years.There is an electric chair that was used a number of times.The museum and gift show were very interesting.

For $12 adult admission I guess you can't go wrong. But I was expecting more. The tour really didn't get into the down and dirty areas. Just some weird paintings by prisoners on the walls (Mutant Ninja Turtles?), empty rooms where such-and-such used to be. The recreation area outside. And the prison cells. This was just ok. I wish we would have went to more interesting areas. Oh, and allowing children on this tour is just plain wrong. The subject matter is WAY inappropriate and the tour guide didn't really sanitize it for young ears.

The staff is friendly, and you get unfettered access to the entire facility to explore and ponder. They provide an initial tour which is very informative and interesting, then turn you loose to explore on your own. Very cool!

My husband and I were in the area and observed the beautiful facade. On a lark, we purchased a tour. Our guide was knowledgeable about the history of the prison and was able to help us reconcile the events related to the prison with the politics of the day and history. It was fascinating. I would love to participate in a ghost tour!

We did the North Walk flashlight tour on November 1st. It was very well organized. The tour guide lead us all through the prison and told stories throughout regarding the most violent criminals/murders. A lighted tour would have been adequate but the flashlight tour at night added to the enjoyment.

My daughter and I travel together usually in the Fall and have been here 2 times. The first time was back in 10/2010. We got into town late at night and just wanted to see WVP in the dark. While we were standing outside looking up at this monstrous building I happened to be looking at the right place at the right time and saw a white apparition go by one of the windows on the 2nd floor. One of the prison employees was outside with us giving info on tours, etc. and I said "did you see that" ?? No one else saw what I did. When I told the employee where and what I saw she said no one is allowed in that area so what you saw was a ghost, she also said the employees there were always seeing ghosts/spirits. We came back the next day and took the 1 1/2 hr. tour. We were locked in a cell for a few minutes and saw many of the prison sights that were safe to go through. At that time the electric chair, "Sparky" was easily accessible but it's now behind a barrier due to the vandalism of it. We visited again 2 weeks ago. There were some changes made within the 4 years since we had been there. We took a late night tour this time which we enjoyed. The boiler room had to be the best (spookiest) part of the tour. The tour could have been so much better if the people in our tour had been more serious about it but there was a lot of screaming, joking around and childish behavior going on, so much so that we couldn't hear a lot of what our tour guide was saying. If you go at night be sure to take a flashlight since there are a lot of uneven steps and flooring. Also, DON'T FORGET YOUR CAMERA! During the very busy times like close to Halloween it's hard to find parking spaces but we just kept on driving around the blocks and would find one pretty quick. I'm sure we'll go back again sometime.

Went to the prison with a friend of mine and what an interesting place it was. We took the 1 1/2 tour and our guide Donna was tremendous with a lot of stories about the inmates and ghosts that seem to occupy the prison. Seeing the cells,mess hall and how they lived in this place was amazing. Truly a good day out!!