Cellblock 17 in Eastern State; Bill and the boys down below. The penitentiary was designed with tall, arched windows, skylights, and barrel-vaulted hallways to give a cathedral feeling. They had hoped the forced monastery theme would bring thoughtfulness and remorse.
“… and when they put you in that cell… and those bars slam home…
that’s when you know it’s for real. A whole life blown away in the blink of an eye. Nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it.”
– Red in The Shawshank Redemption
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Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania opened in 1829, the world’s first true “penitentiary”. One that mob gangster Al Capone, “Scarface”, was imprisoned at for his 1st ever prison sentence. In its time, it was the most famous prison in the world. For nearly 150 years, it held around 80,000 men and women. Some were murderers & hitmen, famous bank robbers and mobsters, but there were lesser crimes and 1st timers here, too. A girl as young as 11 did time here for arson. She died here at 13 of Tuberculosis. Many claim the decaying, ancient prison is one of the most haunted places in the world. Today, nearly 200 years old, Eastern State stands as a National Historic Landmark whose walls have seen riots, escapes, and evil up close. Maybe some falsely accused and hopefully some redemption. Big name, Hollywood movies have shot here and over a dozen tv shows, many of them investigating the paranormal. Books have been written about it, a video game inspired, and music videos filmed, here. It has quite a tale to tell.
Though the outside was designed to look like a Gothic, medieval castle, Eastern State is possibly the 1st modern building in the United States, an architectural marvel for its time. They developed running water and central heat when even the White House still relied on coal-burning stoves for heat and hand-pumped their water. At $780,000 to build, Eastern State quickly became one of the most expensive buildings in a young United States. Prisons around the world modeled theirs after it. Thousands of tourists traveled by just to see it. Famed author Charles Dickens voyaged from England for a tour.
A formidable fortress. It’s nearly impossible to get a good picture of the whole thing because it’s enormous, covering an entire city block!
Eastern State was an experiment designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in prisoners using solitude with light labor. They thought it would help prisoners to reflect and feel remorse. Before Eastern State, most prisons were just large holding pens where men, women & children were thrown together. Small time thieves were in with murderers, everyone left to fend for themselves behind locked doors.
The prison has 7 cellblocks radiating from a central hub, like spokes of a wheel. Guards could watch the entire building from that central spot until a 2nd story was added later. Its half mile of 30 foot tall, stone walls and turrets were meant to instill fear and intimidate outsiders, in hopes of deterring crime. Inside, they enforced silence and prohibited all contact between prisoners. No contact was allowed from the outside and there was very little with even the guards. Guards wore wool socks on their feet to muffle their footsteps. Silence was enforced under threat of a darkened cell and only bread and water to eat. A straight jacket and gag would be used, if necessary. Masks were worn outside their cell to prevent communication and inmates learning the layout. They ate, worked & spent 23 hours a day, alone & silent in their cell. They had an hour outside in their attached, private exercise yard. Each cell had heat, running water, a toilet, and a skylight for airflow. Relatively comfortable for the times when private, wealthy homes and even US President Andrew Jackson‘s White House had none of those.
The building was added onto a number of times, so many of the cell-blocks have a different look.
In 1832, three years in, they had their 1st escape. He was captured, but escaped, again, the same way 5 years later. Nearly 100 years later, 6 armed inmates held up a group of unarmed guards before scaling the east wall. One made it as far as Honolulu and all but 1 were recaptured. Thirteen years later, in ’45, 12 men escaped through a tunnel to the street. The main tunnel builder had only 2 years left of his sentence, but added 10 more for that 2 hours of stolen freedom. During the 142 years of operation, more than 100 inmates escaped. Most were caught within minutes. Only one was never recaptured.
Ten years after abandoning private cells and silence, they experienced the 1st of several prison riots. In 1933, inmates set fires in their cells and destroyed workshops, rioting over “insufficient recreational facilities, overcrowding, and idleness”. They rioted, again, the following year over low wages. They short-circuited the electrical outlets and started fires and other disturbances. In 1961, inmates overpowered a guard and began the largest riot in the prison’s history. Within hours, police, guards, and state troopers reclaimed the prison.
Eastern State Penitentiary closed in 1970. Vandals smashed skylights and windows, and an urban forest grew up through the halls and cells. Only a family of stray cats roamed the halls, until they began to give limited tours in the late ’80s. The World Monument Fund designated it 1 of the 100 most important endangered landmarks in the world.
The victims- These are the ones that stay with me, the ones I can’t forget. This exhibit by artist Cindy Stockton Moore broke my heart. This is a small portion of those coldly murdered by prisoners of Eastern State Penitentiary. Many more were killed, but photos don’t remain. Devastating. May they rest in peace.
Tours include a headset audio tour guide, “The Voices of Eastern State“, that is excellent and kept our entire family fascinated the whole time. It gives history, context & some 1st-hand accounts by actual inmates and guards from Eastern State’s operating years. They also have guide-led discussion tours and interactive experiences, Hands-On History, available. There are also award-winning museum exhibits discussing crime, justice and the modern prison system.
Al Capone’s Cell- In 2019, they renovated the cell and finished & painted the walls to better recreate what it looked like when Capone was imprisoned here. Decorated with fine furnishings, similar to what he had, it looks more like a tasteful sitting room, than a prison cell. He was on the “Park Avenue Block” for rich and/or famous inmates.
Eastern State easily tells a haunting tale because she lived it, and she looks it. In 1995, it was a mental institution in the movie 12 Monkeys, with Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt. In 1998, ESP portrayed a Malaysian prison in the movie Return to Paradise with Joaquin Phoenix & Vince Vaughn. ESP was also a film location for 2008 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with Shia LeBeouf, Megan Fox & Josh Duhamel.
I’m not really a believer in the traditional paranormal outside of God and Christian doctrine, but paranormal believers & ‘ghost hunters’ consider Eastern State to be one of the most haunted places in the world. 19th century officers and inmates reported alleged eerie experiences, terrifying voices and strange visions. It’s, now, a hot spot for paranormal TV show investigations. A number of the show hosts are convinced it’s haunted and called it ‘terrifying’ and ‘one of the most haunted places in the world’. Over a dozen tv shows, a video game, music tracks & videos, and scores of books have focused their fascination on ESP. I’ll include many of them at the end of this article.
A typical 8×12 cell. A toilet is behind me with the private exercise yard door at the end. Early on, they had a Bible to read, but most were illiterate.
This nearly 200 year old, once abandoned structure is hauntingly beautiful and a very interesting sight to see. I didn’t appreciate how beautiful ruins could be, especially ones marred with violence and sadness, death and even madness. But the beauty of the architecture, though 2 centuries old, still remains. The history she holds, through riots and disease, darkness and abandonment, yet she stands. An aged & weathered gem sitting in the middle of a modern city fascinates. Always a privilege to visit historic places that have seen so much. Philadelphia has more to offer than Revolutionary War. It is worth your time, for sure and a gem in Philly!
Good the Know:
Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site
2027 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia
TV that ESP has been featured on:
Just a few of the Books include:
Under the Wall: The True Story of the 1945 Tunnel Escape from Eastern State Penitentiary
For more information:
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