Eastern State Penitentiary - 6/7/11

While we were in Philadelphia we visited Eastern State Penitentiary in the Fairmount Park district of the city, near the downtown area. This is the world's first true penitentiary. It was built in 1829 and, shockingly, remained opened until 1971!! Notorious criminals such as Al Capone and Willie Sutton were housed wihtin its walls. When it was constructed, it was the largest and most expensive public structure ever constructed and became a model for more than 300 prisons worldwide.

In 1924, then governor Gifford Pinchot purportedly sentenced "Pep" the cat-murdering dog to Eastern State for allegedly killing his wife's cherished cat. In 1945 a major prison break was carried out by 12 inmates, including Willie Sutton, who apparently dug a 97 foot tunnel, undiscovered, underneath the prison walls! During renovations in the 30's another 30 incomplete inmate-dug tunnels were discovered.

After being abandoned in 1971 a "forest" grew within the prison cells until the late 80's when the City purchased the property with the intent of devloping it into a mall and luxury apartment complex. However, Mayor Wilson Goode successfully petitioned to halt development (the only good he did while in office) and it was opened to the public in 1994. This facility is a wonderful place to visit and especially to photograph. It is even said to be haunted!!

In the picture above you can see where major plant live found conditions right to flourish inside the cells!!

The plaster cats on the stairway in the picture above were part of an art installation by a man who would come to the prison and feed the hundreds of stray cats that roamed inside the walls.

This is a view looking into the infirmary.

Definitely not a place I would like to be sick in!!

The picture above is meant to demonstrate what a typical cell would look like.

I believe this was the "death row" cell block, which really wasn't a true death row, but only housed prisoners with death senteces who were awaiting execution.

This is actually still inside the walls of the prison, the fence is to cordon off an area to the public.

This is my favorite shot of the lot - it really depicts the stark and depressing living conditions of this facility.