Touring The Shawshank Trail 20 years later

"The Shawshank Redemption" was filmed in 1993 in the communities of Mansfield, Upper Sandusky and Ashland, Ohio, and the cities are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of the seven-time Oscar-nominated film this weekend with a huge three-day extravaganza.

By James A. Molnar
TGK Editor

A small Ohio community was changed two decades ago by a film.

And it is still embracing the connection today.

"The Shawshank Redemption" was filmed in 1993 in the communities of Mansfield, Upper Sandusky and Ashland, Ohio, and the cities are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of the seven-time Oscar-nominated film this weekend with a huge three-day extravaganza.

During a recent preview tour, I was given a look at what fans can expect while visitings.

From a café in downtown Mansfield offering Shashankwiches to the prison setting itself at the Ohio State Reformatory, the organizers are committed and excited about offering visitors a tour along The Shawshank Trail.

Appearances by actors from the film are expected. Bob Gunton, who played Warden Norton, and James Kisicki, who played the bank manager, are expected to attend. Renee Blaine and Scott Mann, who played the wife and her lover, respectively, is expected. The prisoner named "Fat Ass," played by Frank Medrano, is attending a signing autographs with some of the others.

The schedule of events also include a screening of the acclaimed Frank Darabont movie at the Renaissance Theatre, where the film originally premiered on Sept. 13, 1994.

Here is a look at some of the sights from the trail:

The centerpiece of the experience is of course The Ohio State Reformatory,
which served as Shawshank State Prison in the film. The reformatory offers a tour,
winding through the Victorian Gothic, Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne designs,
past offices and living areas.   Photos by James A. Molnar

A bevy of merchandise options are available for purchase in the Convictions Gift Shop.

Other movies have filmed at the Ohio State Reformatory.
Here, a set piece from "Air Force One" remains on the grounds.

Fans of "The Shawshank Redemption" will recognize this safe,
where the warden put important documents and money.

This room was used to film parole hearing of Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding,
played by Morgan Freeman.

Camera mounts can still be found on the ceiling.

Tour guides say this chair wasn't always there and they do not know
who put it there in the middle of the empty room. The reformatory features a plethora of ghost stories.
Visitors are told via the audio tour that this is a highly haunted area in the complex.

One of the many iconic scenes from "The Shawshank Redemption" is the boarding house.
Fans will recognize this famous plank of wood.

The East Cell Block was completed in 1908 and is six ranges high.
It housed more than 1,200 inmates. Cells were intended for only one person,
but overcrowding forced two per cell. The cellblock scenes in "The Shawshank Redemption"
were filmed on a set built in a downtown Mansfield warehouse.
That set was based on the design of the cells at the reformatory.

A prop featured in "The Shawshank Redemption" when the warden looks through the "tunnel"
that Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) dug.

This is where Tim Robbins' character Andy spent quite a bit of time: The Hole. 

Rapper Lil' Wayne shot a music video here. This cell was painted gold for the filming.

The stone and steel fortress, which was built 20 years after the Civil War,
housed more than 155,000 prisoners in its time until it was closed in 1990.

Interest points along The Shawshank Trail are marked with the official logo.

The Bissman Building doubled as a newspaper office for "The Shawshank Redemption."
The front room was upgraded by filmmakers for a reported $30,000.

Ed Pickens’ Café offers a roast beef wrap called a “Shawshankwich”
(Brooks’ roast beef, Red’s onion, Andy’s aioli sauce, lettuce, on a Warden’s wrap).

Upper Sandusky is also part of The Shawshank Trail. Here is the beautiful cupola
at Wyandot County Courthouse, where opening scenes were shot for the movie.

The courtroom here in Upper Sandusky Ohio where banker Andy Dufresne is convicted
of murdering his wife and her lover. He is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.

A few blocks from the courthouse is the Shawshank Woodshop and Museum, which houses
its original equipment — a Rube Goldberg-esque assemblage of belts and gears featured
in a scene with Morgan Freeman.

The Shawshank Woodshop and Museum features glass cases filled with film props,
autographed items and international memorabilia. There are uniforms and shoes from the film set,
A stand-up cutout of Tim Robbins in front of the three posters used in the movie — Marilyn Monroe,
Raquel Welch and, fittingly, Rita Hayworth. The film is based on the Stephen King novella
"Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption."

Bill Mullen is the owner of the Shawshank Woodshop and Museum in Upper Sandusky,
where scenes from the 1994 movie were filmed.

And finally, the bus featured in "The Shawshank Redemption."

For more photos from The Shawshank Trail, check out James' photo album for Toledo Free Press here.