The history to one of America’s most notorious Penitentiary’s began in the year 1787 when most of the prisons in the country were nothing more than large holding cells with a daily accepted occurrence of physical torture supervised by guards and overseeing administrators.

With the growing concern of these over populated conditions, Benjamin Franklin held a meeting inside is home in Philadelphia with a group of well known and powerful individuals to discuss a more reasonable building structure. Dr. Benjamin Rush spoke on the behalf of The Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons; his idea was to build a true Penitentiary to contain prisoners within a surrounding of genuine regret to sustain penitence within the hearts of these criminals.

After 30 years of persuasion and lobbying by the group, the Pennsylvania Legislature finally approved funding for a prison to be constructed on farmland outside of Philadelphia, the work on the foundation and walls began in the year 1822. After construction was complete this massive new prison became known as one of America’s most expensive buildings and on October 23, 1829, The Eastern State Penitentiary began operation.

In 1836 the original prison was completed by architect John Haviland. Covering an area of eleven acres, this state of the art (for its time) building had upgraded plumbing, sewage systems and four-hundred heated cells. On the date of its final completion the total cost came close to $780,000. Throughout the years there had been many more additions and cell blocks added to the outside of the structure. In 1956, Cellblock Fifteen (better known as Death Row) was the last of these additions.

Within the early stages of operation a system of confinement and mild interaction between guards and inmates was introduced for it was believed that the behavior of these hardened criminals would become genuinely penitent over the years of seclusion throughout their sentence, thus the word Penitentiary was introduced. Inmates were even hooded whenever they left their cells to prevent distraction and to allow more control by the guards. Over time this system slowly faded and became extinct in the year 1913.

In 1929, the notorious Chicago gangster, Al Capone, spent 8 months at Eastern State Penitentiary. Although the grim history that surrounds the prison was infamous, Al Capone spent most of his time in luxury within the walls of Eastern State. His cell became furnished with antiques, rugs, oil paintings and the sounds of a Waltz were played upon a “powerful cabinet radio receiver of handsome design and fine finish”.

Within the years of 1913 – 1971, the Penitentiary has seen its fair share of escape attempts, riots, physical torture and even deaths within its walls. Soon after 1971 the newly titled Historic Landmark became all but abandoned and saw nothing but vandalism and decay until the year 1980 when the city of Philadelphia paid the state of Pennsylvania a little over $400,000 for ownership. Plans of renovations had begun.

In 1984 the city transfers the Eastern State Penitentiary to the Redevelopment Authority and with the help of the Eastern State Task Force, the transformation of what once was America’s most legendary prison became restored as a tourist commercial location. With generous funding from the Pew Charitable Trust, the year 1994 saw the doors open to the public as a historic tour destination with more than 10,000 visitors its first year. The Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site Inc, a nonprofit organization, was formed in 1998 specifically to preserve and maintain the site as a tourist attraction.

Forms of Punishment

The Hole
Located under Block 14, The Hole is nothing but a pit dug deep into the ground where inmates were forced to stay locked in. Sometimes stuck for weeks on end, the prisoners would often share this inhabitant with rats, roaches and other unsightly creatures. Those that were unfortunate enough to experience this pit were subject to no light, very little air and would receive water and a slice of bread for nourishment.

Iron Gag
This tool of punishment was specifically designed for those prisoners who refused to obey the no communication policies or those who would shout vulgar remarks toward the guards. Chained to the wrists strapped high behind their backs was an iron collar wrapped around their heads with a sharp iron rod clamped to the tongue. With the slightest movement a tearing of the tongue and severe bleeding would occur. Many inmates died from extreme blood loss due to this instrument.

The Mad Chair
Prisoners sometimes would be punished by being strapped to a chair for days, without food and eventually dying from a lack of blood circulation and starvation. The straps on the chair were tightened to the point that any type of mobilization was made impossible.

The Water Bath
Inmates who persistently broke the rules of the prison were forced to suffer through a punishment where the prisoner was dunked into an ice-cold tub of water and then hung from the wall overnight. In extremely cold weather, the water on the skin would form into a thin layer of ice before the morning.

Ghost Legends

The Locksmith
One of the most famous ghost encounters in the prison happened to a locksmith by the name of Gary Johnson, who was doing restoration work in Cell Block #4. As he was working on one of the locks he soon felt an immense pressure go throughout his body to the point where he had lost all mobilization and was unable to move. The feeling was so intense that Gary reported experiencing an out-of-body experience and felt drawn towards the negative energy that flowed throughout the cell. Ghostly faces appeared on the wall while hundreds of distorted forms swirled around the cellblock with one in particular seeming to call Gary towards it.

Some believe that once Gary removed the key from the lock that he had opened a gateway to all the spirits within the prison and allowed them to roam freely throughout.

Mr. Johnson still shudders in fear today if asked about his experience.

The Ghost of James Clark
When Al Capone was serving his time he had frequently reported that he was being haunted by the ghost of James Clark. “Jimmy” as Capone called him, was one of the victims in the St.Valentine’s Day Massacre and was the brother-in-law of one of Al’s rivals, Bugs Moran. Other inmates had reported hearing Capone screaming in his cell and telling “Jimmy” to get outta here and leave him alone. Even after his sentence and back in Chicago, Al was still heard to be yelling in his room at the Ghost of James Clark.

Cell Block 12
Arguably known as one of the most active areas within the walls of Eastern State reside in what is known as Cell Block 12. Black shadowy figures have been seen regularly walking back and forth along the catwalks plus faint voices, laughter and cackling have been heard inside this location.

Cell Block 6
Against the walls of this block there have been multiple reports of black shadows moving in and out of the corners and along the bricks.

Cell Block 4
Disturbing ghostly faces of alleged former inmates have been seen floating throughout the cells where they appear and disappear in the blink of an eye.

Guard Tower
High atop the prison’s brick wall lays a guard tower that reportedly is home to the ghost of a guard that is destined to watch over the prison for all eternity.

To this day the Eastern State Penitentiary has kept its doors open to the public and continues to hold yearly events with tours and even an on-site store. If the walls could talk… you would probably get an answer on the Terror Behind the Walls Event.