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Travel: Tour Ohio’s Shawshank history this summer

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Travel: Tour Ohio’s Shawshank history this summer

Steve Stephens
 |  Special to The Columbus Dispatch

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Fans of “The Shawshank Redemption” — the top rated movie of all time on IMDb.com — have an opportunity to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their favorite flick during a birthday bash Aug. 8-11 at locations in north-central Ohio, where the movie was filmed.

Joining the celebration will be several featured actors from the movie including Bob Gunton (Warden Norton), William Sadler (Heywood), Gil Bellows (Tommy Williams) and many others.

When “The Shawshank Redemption” was released in 1994, few people realized just how beloved the movie would become over time. But the themes of perseverance, friendship and redemption apparently struck a chord, as did performances by leads Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman and a brilliant cast of supporting players.

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The evocative, haunting locations where the movie was filmed, many of them in and around Mansfield, also play a big role in the movie’s enduring popularity.

Today, several of those locations are destinations along the Shawshank Trail, which includes 15 visitor stops, most of which will be instantly recognizable to fans of the movie.

Stops that will host special Shawshank 30th events include the Pugh Cabin at Malabar Farm State Park, where protagonist Andy Dufresne sat in his car contemplating his wife’s infidelity; the Wyandot County Courthouse in Upper Sandusky, where Dufresne received his life sentences; and the most popular site on the Shawshank Trail, the historic Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, which portrays Shawshank State Prison where most of the movie is set.

After the real reformatory closed in 1990, its magnificent Victorian-gothic architecture made it the ideal fictional setting for several major motion pictures including “The Shawshank Redemption.”

Today, the former reformatory draws thousands of visitors each year — not just movie fans, but also history and architecture buffs and, because it is allegedly and famously haunted, ghost hunters and paranormal researchers.

The site is home to the Ohio State Corrections History Museum with historic items including the electric chair “Old Sparky” in which 315 people were put to death, and the Shawshank Museum featuring props, costumes and other mementos from the movie.

Visitors can take self-directed or guided tours with several different themes. The reformatory will also host anniversary bus tours that will stop at most Shawshank Trail sites Aug. 8 and 9. (The bus tours will not visit the last and only non-Ohio stop on the trail, Sandy Point Wildlife Refuge on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands — probably a good thing.)

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The celebration kicks off Aug. 8 in downtown Mansfield at the historic Renaissance Theatre, a Shawshank Trail stop and the site of the movie’s premiere in 1994. At dusk, the theater’s back lot will host an outdoor drive-in-style screening of the movie. The theater will also show special reserved-seat indoor screenings Aug. 9 and 10.

The theater will also hold a cast and crew discussion Aug. 9 featuring movie director Frank Darabont, hosted by Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz.

“Shawshank” cast and crew will also appear at other events throughout the anniversary celebration including panel discussions Aug. 10-11 at Theatre 166 in Mansfield. Those panels include Q&A sessions with background actors who portrayed Shawshank prisoners and townspeople, and a “Behind the Scenes & Beyond” panel with the movie location manager Kokayi Ampah, who will discuss how and why sites in and around Mansfield became iconic locations.

Many events are free, but some include an admission charge. Some events are ticketed and may sell out in advance, so act early. For a complete list of Shawshank 30th Anniversary events or to purchase admission to ticketed events, visit shawshanktrail.com/event-schedule.

Steve Stephens is a freelance travel writer and photographer. Email him at sjstephensjr@gmail.com.

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