Haunted Columbus: The Arena District…ALL OF IT!

I previously did a story about how haunted The North Market is and why. You can check that story out here; Haunted History Columbus: The Old North Graveyard…Columbus, Ohio. The North Market is definitely The Arena District adjacent…I guess. Once upon a time…where the Arena District now stands…mainly where Nationwide Arena stands and going south towards Huntington Field to be exact, stood The Ohio Penitentiary. The Ohio Penitentiary (The Pen) opened in 1834 and housed some of the most infamous and dangerous prisoners in history. The Pen closed in 1984 but wasn’t demolished until 1997. I was 17 going on 18 and clearly remember seeing it. Especially when we would take the freeway places, you could see it real good. However, they had these visions of Columbus finally looking like a major city again (because downtown was jumping back in the old days) and the Pen, of course, had to go. Down the street, there was City Center mall and well..that was it. From what I remember, in the 80’s, 90’s and very early 00’s…downtown was dead (no pun intended) after business hours and not the weekends. Especially after City Center closed in 2005, they really had to get downtown popping. I never understood, why in a major city, not only a major city, but the capital city, our downtown was weak. There was absolutely nothing. I was so confused. Stores and restaurants closed early and wouldn’t even be open on the weekends. WTF? But that was then, and this is now. Downtown Columbus has a lot more going on all over, but especially The Arena District. Today, the arena district is filled with sports venues, restaurants, and businesses. Not too long ago, there was a movie theatre that I used to love going to, and was pissed when they closed it. Also, now y’all are able to drink all out in the open on the street while going from place to place in this haunted ass area. Even with all of the new things going on, we know that you can tear down the buildings, but you can’t get rid of everything. What a lot of people who not only work, party, relax and even live in the Arena District aren’t aware of the area’s dark history of crime, scandal, and violence.

From the beginning, the conditions of The Pen weren’t the best and over time I guess they didn’t improve that much. I mean, it was prison so it wasn’t supposed to be like a hotel or even a motel for that matter, with all of the accommodations or anything. I mean, the prisoners weren’t model citizens, but still, they weren’t animals either. Not saying it was that bad, but I guess certain parts were pretty bad. And one thing you don’t want to do is piss off a criminal who may come back and haunt the land one day. During its operation, a lot of crazy shit happened here. Maybe some of it was normal for that era, but for example, up until 1897, prisoners who were sentenced to death were hung. I mean! It wasn’t until 1897 that the electric chair was put in and they wasted no time executing 315 inmates back to back. Oh…and FYI, rumor has it that the electric chair was where center ice at the arena sits today. How they came up with that, I don’t know, but that’s the rumor. Again…I mean! In 1930 The Pen was the location of one of the deadliest fires in North American prison history that killed 322 inmates and hospitalized about 230 others. A quote from one of the inmates said, “There was nothing to do but scream for God to open the doors. And when the doors didn’t open, all that was left was to stand still and let the fire burn the meat off and hope it wouldn’t be too long about it.” The fire started when a candle was ignited by oily rags on the roof of the prison’s six-story West Block which was east of Neil Avenue on the western edge of the prison. It was first noticed after prisoners had been locked in their cells for the evening. Reports say that many guards refused to unlock the cells. Smoke entered the cell blocks where the prisoners were still in their cells. After a while, only a few guards did provide help, but for many it was too late. Some inmates overpowered a guard and took his keys, which they used to rescue other prisoners. Amongst the chaos of the fire, a riot broke out the inmates attacked the firefighters arriving to fight the blaze with rocks. The National Guard arrived 30 minutes after the fire started. Still, too little too late! Prison officials accused three prisoners of intentionally starting the fire as an attempt to escape. Two of the accused committed suicide months after the event. However, historians have disputed the accusations and believe they were made to divert attention from poor management of the fire escape; mainly, the lives that were lost. So yes, being burned alive with not a single attempt to save your life…I would haunt it too. There were other riots that took place where numerous inmates were killed, but in the 1950’s THEY TRIED IT! If all of that wasn’t enough, a virologist came through and had the audacity to experiment on the inmates by injecting them with HeLa cells to see whether the human body could develop an immune response to cancer. No consent, nothing…just injecting people. See…doing the most. I’m sure this would cause some pissed off spirits to stick around.

To this day, strange sightings and apparitions have been reported in the area. Especially by employees of Nationwide Arena. Employees who are in the arena late at night have reported hearing strange sounds and feeling uneasy. That is the heart and center of where The Pen was located. Nationwide Arena as well as the surrounding district are said to be haunted and cursed. Many freak accidents have occurred on the site over the years even in more recent years; like a window washer falling to his death even though being secure. To this day, they still don’t know how it happened. Between the deaths in the prison, the deaths of inmates who served time in the prison, the staff who worked there over the years, and all of the bodies that were buried between the Arena District and The North Market…many of which may still be buried there; there is no way that this area is not haunted. When you’re in the Arena District; whether you are working or just hanging out at one of the many places out there, just keep your eyes open and be careful…just incase!