The Bissman Building, along with all of its Gothic Romantic styling, was commissioned by Peter Bissman in 1886. Engineered and constructed by the same contractors as the Ohio State Reformatory, it was the home to Peters’ wholesale grocery distribution center up until the mid 1970’s. The 50,000sq.ft. warehouse was built in order for The Bissman Company to expand its flourishing business. 
The Bissman Company supplied Mansfield and the surrounding area with a broad variety of grocery products including Bissman’s Red Band Coffee, hand rolled Cuban cigars, private labeled canned goods, and a wide array of alcoholic beverages. It was a landmark the day it opened and remains today, a lasting treasure to the community. 
Each morning the streets would be filled with the aroma of hand roasted coffee beans then like clockwork, at the end of a long work day, the smell of freshly roasted peanuts wandered throughout the flats, enticing the locals to enjoy a beverage, preferably one delivered that day by The Bissman Company.
The Building still buzzes today with activity. Home to Pirate Printing, a Bissman Family owned printing and embroidery business and the host to private ghost hunts, ghost walks and Shawshank tours. The building has been the back drop for several movies, including The Shawshank Redemption and The Dead Matter. The perfect industrial feel has lent itself to multiple music videos and with its long standing reputation for paranormal activity; it was featured in an episode of Ghost Hunters (T.A.P.S.) as well as two episodes of My Ghost Story.

 

             "Not all Employees left at the end of their shift!"

 

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