Construction of a school and library was completed in 1900 to help reform and educate inmates. Ĭonditions at the prison during the turn of the 20th century were good, according to a warden's report, which stated that, "both the quantity and the quality of all the purchases of material, food and clothing have been very gradually, but steadily, improved, while the discipline has become more nearly perfect and the exaction of labor less stringent." Education was a priority for the inmates during this time. Some inmates were allowed to stay at the mine's camp under the supervision of a mine foreman, who was not a prison employee. This mine helped fill some of the prison's energy needs and saved the state an estimated $14,000 a year. A prison coal mine located a mile away opened in 1921. At the same time, revenue from the prison farm and inmate labor helped the prison financially. In the early 1900s some industries within the prison walls included a carpentry shop, a paint shop, a wagon shop, a stone yard, a brickyard, a blacksmith, a tailor, a bakery, and a hospital. In addition to construction, the inmates had other jobs to do in support of the prison. After this phase, work began on prison workshops and other secondary facilities. The facility officially opened in this year, and it had a prison population of 251 male inmates, including some who had helped construct the prison where they were incarcerated. It included space for female inmates and personal living quarters for the warden and his family. A 4-story tower connecting the two was the administration building (measuring 75 ft. by 4 ft.), and North Hall had a kitchen, dining area, hospital, and chapel. In addition to the North Wagon Gate, there was now north and south cellblock areas (both measuring 300 ft. When completed, the total cost was of $363,061. The state used prison labor during the construction process, and work continued on this first phase until 1876. It was made with hand-cut sandstone, which was quarried from a local site. The first building constructed on the site was the North Wagon Gate. Its Gothic Revival architecture "exhibit, as much as possible, great strength and convey to the mind a cheerless blank indicative of the misery which awaits the unhappy being who enters within its walls." They had chosen a modified version of the design of Northern Illinois Penitentiary at Joliet. This gave prison officials time to assess what prison design should be used. The state built a temporary wooden prison nearby that summer. Moundsville proved an attractive site, as it is approximately twelve miles south of Wheeling, West Virginia, which at that time was the state capital. Ten acres were purchased just outside the then city limits of Moundsville for $3000. On February 7, 1866, the state legislature approved the purchase of land in Moundsville for the purpose of constructing a state prison. After nine inmates escaped in 1865, the local press took up the cause, and the Legislature took action. The Legislature at first directed him to send the prisoners to other institutions out of the state, and then they directed him to use existing county jails, which turned out to be inadequate. Boreman lobbied the West Virginia Legislature for a state penitentiary but was repeatedly denied. Consequently, the new state had a shortage of various public institutions, including prisons. In 1863, West Virginia seceded from Virginia at the height of the American Civil War.
The walls here are 24 feet (7.3 m) high and 6 feet (1.8 m) wide at the base, tapering to 18 inches (460 mm) towards the top. It lies at the western side of the complex along Jefferson Avenue and is considered the front, as this is where the main entrance is located. The center tower section is 682 feet (208 m) long. The stone walls are 5 feet (1.5 m) thick at the base, tapering to 2½ feet at the top, with foundations 5 feet (1.5 m) deep. The dimensions of the parallelogram-shaped prison yard are 82½ feet in length, by 352½ feet in width. The original architectural designs have been lost.
The Penitentiary's design is similar to the facility at the 1858 state prison in Joliet, Illinois, with its castellated Gothic, stone structure, complete with turrets and battlements, except it is scaled down to half the size.