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The West Virginia State Penitentiary is located in Moundsville West Virginia and operated from 1876 to 1995. Currently the site is maintained as a tourist attraction and training facility.

Top Row L-R: Administration building, Exterior stone walls, Exterior wall with guard tower, Interior- Rear of administration building
2nd Row L-R: Interior- Razor wire strung over secluded recreation area, A cell belonging to someone named Roger, Cell block, Cell block
3rd Row L-R: Interior iron doorway, Circular entrance gate, No contact visitation area, Cafeteria
4th Row L-R: Modern cafeteria area, Inside kitchen area, More cells, An inmate's cell art
5th Row L-R: More cell art, 'Old Sparkey', 30 cal. machine gun, Inmate's ceiling art


In 1863 West Virginia seceded from Virginia at the height of the American Civil War. Consequently, the new state had a shortage of various public institutions, including prisons. From 1863 to 1866, Governor Arthur I. Boreman lobbied the West Virginia Legislature for a state penitentiary but was repeatedly denied. The Legislature attempted to direct him to send the prisoners to other institutions out of the state, and then directed him to use existing county jails, which turned out to be inadequate. After nine inmates escaped in 1865, the local press took up the cause, and the Legislature took action.On 7 February 1866, the state legislature approved the purchase of land in Moundsville for the purpose of constructing a state prison. Ten acres were purchased just outside of the then city limits of Moundsville for $3000. Moundsville proved an attractive site, as it is approximately twelve miles south of Wheeling, West Virginia, which at that time was the state capital.
The state built a temporary wooden prison nearby that summer. This gave prison officials time to assess what prison design should be used. Northern Illinois Penitentiary at Joliet proved to be an attractive design. Its Gothic Revival architecture exhibited, as much as possible, great strength and conveyed to the mind a cheerless blank indicative of the misery which awaits the unhappy being who enters within its walls.
It was made with hand cut sandstone, which was quarried from a local site.The state used prison labor during the construction process, and work continued on its first phase until 1876. The north and south cellblock areas were constructed, both measuring 300 feet by 52 feet. South Hall had 224 7x4 foot cells, and North Hall had a kitchen, dining area, hospital, and chapel. Connecting the two is a 4 story tower housing the administration building. It included space for female inmates and personal living quarters for the warden and his family.
The facility officially opened in this year, and it had a prison population of 251 male inmates, including some who had helped construct the very prison that now held them. After this phase, work began on prison workshops and other secondary facilities.
In 1929, the state decided to double the size of the penitentiary because overcrowding was a problem. The 5 x 7 foot cells were too small to hold three prisoners at a time, but until the expansion there was no other option. Two prisoners would sleep in the bunks with the third sleeping on a mattress on the floor. The state utilized prison labor once again and completed this phase of construction in 1959. The construction had been delayed by a steel shortage during World War II.
Conditions at the prison worsened through the years, and the facility would be ranked on the United States Department of Justice's Top Ten Most Violent Correctional Facilities list with instances of gambling, fighting, raping, and murder.
From 1899 to 1959, ninety-four men were executed. Hanging was the method of execution until 1949 with eighty-five men meeting that fate. The public could attend hangings until 19 June 1931. On that date, Frank Hyer was executed for murdering his wife. However, when the trap door beneath him was opened and his full weight was put onto the noose, he was instantly decapitated. Following this event, attendance at hangings was by invitation only. Beginning in 1951, electrocution became the means of execution. Ironically, the electric chair, nicknamed 'Old Sparky', used by the prison was originally built by inmate Paul Glenn. Nine men died in the chair until the state outlawed execution entirely in 1965.The original chair is on display in the facility.
With its violent past, deplorable conditions and two major riots, Moundsville Penitentiary is a popular destination for those who study paranormal activity. Some claim that the prison is plagued with what is called, residual hauntings, which are defined as a replay of tragic events from the past.

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Two sets of people are in great demand on Pitru Paksha day , without the the spiritual wheels of holistic healing cannot start , first the ubiquitous barbers of Banganga , to make a fast buck a person who has never held a razor in his hand becomes a barber for a profitable day.

And shaving or religious tonsure is the first step to the salvation of appeasing the dead soul of ancestors on Pitru Paksha day.
Next to pujaris or the pandits that line the steps of Banganga with their agents or touts calling out to clients like lawyers at Bandra East Court on a rainy day.

There is another important rallying contributor the Maharashtrian ladies supplying the ritual materials , its their monopoly and their right.

In the waters sponsored by the local corporator and the Municipality keep removing the spiritual waste and dry leaves debris that could choke fish life in the tank.

Once the puja gets over the bald head devotees give alms to the Beggars of Banganga.

The pickle sellers sweet sellers rudraksh sellers line the area leading to Banganga.. and on the way out the barbers are still busy chopping locks and giving a heady shine to the pate.

The armpit shaving is the most poetic scene that I capture without fail...this act of faith has the made in India quality ..Armpits have a reason to be eulogized where hair grows like shrubs and weeds and needs gardening too .. the smell of the Indian sweaty smelly Armpit could be compared to the fragrance and exotic breath of fresh air of Musk of Arabia .
And if the perfume makers did capture the fragrance of armpit smell in crowded local trains jam packed in Mumbai they could have a erogenous activating aphrodisiac to add to the much sexually maligned Kama Sutra manual.

Do It ..