My Trip to Eastern State Penitentiary

On a recent trip to Philadelphia I got a chance to visit the historic Eastern State Penitentiary.

After seeing Eastern State Penitentiary in an early episode of Ghost Hunters and reading the history of this impressive place my wife and I figured this was a must see during our road trip across the eastern United States.

After arriving at Eastern State and purchasing our tickets we were provided with a fantastic audio tour voiced by none other than Mr Pink himself the famous Steve Buscemi.

Eastern State Penitentiary is certainly a sight to behold, first opened in 1829 in an area known as Francisville this would have been all countryside at the time. Eastern State Penitentiary is now very much surrounded by the City of Philadelphia which grew up around it in the years preceding it’s opening.

Eastern State Penitentiary sits on a site approximately 11 acres in size surrounded by 30ft high walls and towers. The Penitentiary was designed by British-born architect John Haviland.

Eastern State was purposely designed in the Neo Gothic style to install fear in those who thought of comitting a crime. When it was built it was the first of its kind and inspired the creation of 300 similar penitentiary’s world wide.

Eastern State when originally constructed was to be run on what was called the "Pennsylvania system" also known as the separate system. Inmates were confined separately in their cells and were not permitted to communicate with each other. This model was supposed to encourage penitence of the prisoners through silent reflection of there crimes and wrong doings. Their only human contact was from the warden who was legally required to visit each inmate once per day, and guards who had to see each inmate 3 times a day as part of their rehabilitation.

In the early history of Eastern State each cell was lit by nothing more than a skylight or window. The picture below shows an example of one of these "Windows of God" these windows or skylights were supposed to instill in the inmate that God was always watching them.

The separate system was directly opposed by another system popular at the time in United States known as the Auburn System or New York System where inmates were made to work together and were not permitted to speak to each other an example of a prison that had this model at the time was Sing Sing Correctional Facility

Eastern State Penitentiary during it operational years from 1829-1971 held thousands of inmates including some more notorious such as Al Capone the famous Chicago mobster and bank robber Willie Sutton.

Al Capone’s Cell (Fun Fact: While an inmate at Eastern State Penitentiary Al Capone had his tonsils removed at the Prison Infirmary)

After being closed in 1971 Eastern State fell into serious disrepair. The property was purchased by the city of Philadelphia the site had several proposals, including a mall and a luxury apartment complex surrounded by the old prison walls. In 1988 common sense prevailed and redevelopment of the sight was taken off the cards. Eastern State Penitentiary was formally reopened for historical tours in 1994 and has been operating as such ever since.

The modern Eastern State Penitentiary also allows artists to exhibit their work within the old cells. The below piece by Jared Scott Owens is called Sepulture

One of the most common feelings we experienced while wandering the various blocks of this old penitentiary is an overwhelming sadness. It’s difficult to describe but I have always held the belief that buildings have energy negative and positive. Although no one was ever formally executed at Eastern State Penitentiary its is not a secret that inmates died their. There are numerous stories of inmates who were beaten, held in isolation and were subject to cruel and inhumane punishments while at Eastern.

One particular example of a cruel punishment that stuck with me which we were told of was known as the iron gag. Inmates who were caught communicating as a punishment would have their tongue attached to the restraints on their wrists which were then restrained high on the inmates back meaning that any movement would cause tearing and severe bleeding of the tongue.

Eastern State certainly has a story and indeed a presence to it.

If there are such things as ghosts, then there could be no better place for them to inhabit than Eastern State Penitentiary.