Eastern State Penitentiary

I took advantage of the day off (President's Day) to visit Eastern State Penitentiary, a historic prison located about 1.5 miles northwest of my apartment building. Housing its first inmate in 1829, Eastern State pioneered the concept of attempting to reform inmates rather than just separate them from society. Its roots encased in Quaker philosophies, the "separate" or Pennsylvania system put each inmate in extreme, frankly cruel, isolation to foster repentance. The tour guide explained the practice didn't live up to the ideals of the founders and the officials abandoned it in the early 1900s. Tough the prison continued to operate under a the congregant philosophy (what we recognize today) until 1971.

I learned a lot on the tour, much more than expected. All around it was a great way for me to spend the morning.

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The prison was originally built on a hill beyond the edge of Philadelphia. As the town grew, it surrounded the prison. The guardhouse, the only way in or out, fronts on Fairmount Avenue. There's an elementary school off the northwest corner (not visible) of the building.

The hallway for Cell Block #1, the first constructed. They reconstructed this section to represent the original design. Prisoners took their food through the windows and entered the cell from a door the outside wall.

At the time when the White House still had to use chamber pots, the designers installed indoor plumbing in the prison. Not to be nice, but to facilitate the solitude required by the "separate" system.

Eevnutually expanded to 15 cell blocks, the prison has been out of use for nearly four decades, years that have not been kind to the old buildings. The non-profit operating the penitentiary today is raising money for a new roof, but in the main wants to keep the structures in their current appearance, while preventing decay and opening more sections to the public.

Al Capone and Willie Sutton are the two most famous inmates in the facilities history. Al Capone served eight months on a concealed weapons charge. Willie Sutton was involved in an elaborate tunnel escape that, but for 3 hours on the streets, was unsuccessful.