West Virginia Penitentiary

The West Virginia Penitentiary was authorized in 1866, three years after statehood, when the young state had no prison of its own. People convicted of felonies were being held in county jails, and Governor Arthur Boreman asked lawmakers to fund a permanent institution. The legislature selected a site in Moundsville, where a massive Gothic-style prison would become both a public symbol of state authority and a place where that authority was exercised over thousands of incarcerated people.

Construction began in 1866, and the first portion opened the following year. Its high stone walls, towers, and narrow openings gave the prison the appearance of a fortress. The original design included separate cell blocks for men and women. Over time, the facility expanded and adapted as the state’s correctional system grew, while Moundsville became the center of prison administration for much of West Virginia’s history.