Preston School of Industry

The Preston School of Industry, also known as Preston Castle, was a reform school located in Ione, California, in Amador County. It was proposed by, and ultimately named after, state senator Edward Myers Preston. The cornerstone was laid in December 1890, and the institution was opened in June 1894 when seven wards (minors under the guardianship of the state, but not necessarily juvenile offenders) were transferred there from San Quentin State Prison. It is considered one of the oldest and best-known reform schools in the United States.

The original building, known colloquially as "Preston Castle" (or simply "The Castle"), is the most significant example of Romanesque Revival architecture in the Mother Lode. This building was vacated in 1960, shortly after new buildings had been constructed to replace it, and has since been named a California Historical Landmark (#867), and listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NPS-75000422).

In 1999, the institution's official name, applied to the newer 1960 buildings, was changed to the "Preston Youth Correctional Facility".

In 2010, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced that the facility was to close, and a closing ceremony was held on June 2, 2011.

In popular culture
The school was used as a shooting location (as the "Bleeding Heart Orphanage") for the 1984 comedy film Bad Manners.

The 2014 film A Haunting at Preston Castle is set at the castle and surrounding area, as is the 2019 movie Apparition.

The first episode of season 2 of the TV series Ghost Adventures is about Preston Castle.

Ghost Hunters investigated the castle's paranormal reports in season 6, episode 6.

The facility is the subject of The Lowe Files Season 1, Episode 1: "Haunted Boy's Reformatory".

Preston School of Industry was an American indie rock band formed by Scott Kannberg (a.k.a. Spiral Stairs) in 1999, following the dissolution of his previous band, Pavement.

Former wards
Former Preston wards include: • Ernest Booth

• Edward Bunker

• Rory Calhoun (Timothy McCown)

• Neal Cassady

• Caryl Chessman

• Eldridge Cleaver

• Joseph Paul Cretzer

• Gerald Armond Gallego

• Ricardo "Pancho" Gonzales

• Merle Haggard

• Brandt "B-Legit" Jones

• Don Jordan

• Eddie Machen