It was built between 1886 and 1910 and remained in operation until 1990, when a United States Federal Court ruling (the 'Boyd Consent Decree') ordered the facility to be closed.

[2] In 1867, Mansfield was promoted as a candidate for the placement of the new Intermediate Penitentiary (the original name before it was changed to Ohio State Reformatory).

The original architect for the design was Levi T. Scofield from Cleveland, Ohio,[4] who used three architectural styles; Victorian Gothic, Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne.

The exterior of the building, which is built from brick and concrete, is designed in the Romanesque style giving the frontage a castle–like appearance.

Scofield designed the reformatory with these unique styles to help encourage inmates to become reborn back into their spiritual lives.

The closing date was moved to 1990 due to delays in constructing the replacement facility, the Mansfield Correctional Institution, which stands to the west of the old prison, where the yard, power plant, and other buildings once stood.

They have turned the prison into a museum and conduct tours to help fund grounds rehabilitation projects and currently work to stabilize the buildings against further deterioration.

The Ohio State Reformatory currently hosts several different events throughout the year, one of the most popular[citation needed] being the INKcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival,[14] which is a 3-day rock band show in mid–July.

A few of the other events include the Halloween Haunted Attraction "Blood Prison" https://www.bloodprison.com/ which runs in September and October every year.