United States Industrial Reformatory hospital photograph

The United States Industrial Reformatory in Chillicothe, Ohio opened to inmates in January, 1926 after being authorized in 1923. Until 1929 when Congress approved $3,000,000 in funding for permanent buildings, inmates were housed in the repurposed buildings of Camp Sherman, a World War I military training camp. The Camp Sherman quarters included the brick superintendent’s house and a wooden chapel, as well as temporary buildings made up of six dormitories, dining room, kitchen, and auditorium. Prisoner activities consisted of four hours of school daily, viewing movies three times a week, and access to a library and 50 bed hospital. Construction of the new reformatory facilities began in 1928 and was completed in 1936. The new reformatory facilities were to include a receiving building, one inside cell house, two outside cell houses and eight dormitories, as well as a hospital building, mess hall, warehouse, six shops, and a school building and auditorium. In the mid-1930’s a foundry and brick plant opened at the reformatory as part of the Federal Prison Industries (FPI). Items manufactured at the reformatory were sold to the Federal Government. The reformatory is now known as the Chillicothe Correctional Institution