The story of Moundsville's penitentiary begins in 1863 when West Virginia seceded from Virginia to side with the Union in the North. The newly formed state needed a prison, and the close proximity to then-capital Wheeling made the tiny village of Moundsville the perfect location. Moundsville had the dubious honor of being on The United States Department of Justice's Top Ten Most Violent Correctional Facilities list during its 119-year history. In 1951, an inmate named Paul Glenn was asked to build an electric chair to carry out future executions. The chair, dubbed "Old Sparky" is still on display here. In 1995 the prison closed their doors for good, and the inmates were sent to larger facilities that could handle them.