Also known as the Preston School of Industry, Preston Castle was once one of the best-known reform schools in the United States. Located in Ione, California, the castle was opened in 1896 when seven wards of the state were sent to live there. It would remain open until 1960. At 46,000 square feet, the institution is mammoth example of Romanesque Revival architecture. Its also a place with a very bad history. Boys were beaten, starved and isolated as punishment. Seventeen young boys died in the facility to diseases, including typhoid fever and tuberculosis. Sam Goins was shot in the back by a guard on his third escape attempt. A few days later, his best friend Jo Lopez, who was with him at the time he was shot, mysteriously died. Another odd murder occurred when Anna Corbin, a former housekeeper, was found locked in a closet and bludgeoned to death. Visitors and staff have claimed to see apparitions, hear screams for help and electronic malfunctions. The Preston Castle Foundation is working to restore the building, if they could only restore broken lives, then justice would be done.
