Eastern State Penitentiary is a creepy-cool Philly tourist attraction

Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. (Photo by Kelly Kazek)

One of the most fun places I toured on my weekend in Philly was Eastern State Penitentiary, billed as “once the most famous and expensive prison in the world.”

My traveling friend, Suzanne, and I went on the nighttime tour, although it was still daylight when we arrived (it was not the haunted tours they give in the fall).

The prison opened in 1829 and served as a prison until 1970. For decades, the prison was abandoned until it was opened for tours in the 1990s.

It’s located about five blocks from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which is known both for its impressive art collection (we didn’t get to see it) and the steps outside that Sylvester Stallone ran up while training in the film “Rocky.” A statue of the fictional boxer stands near the bottom of the steps.

Eastern State Penitentiary

A history on the prison’s website says, “Known for its grand architecture and strict discipline, this was the world’s first true ‘penitentiary,’ a prison designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of prisoners. Its vaulted, sky-lit cells held nearly 85,000 people over its long history, including bank robber ‘Slick Willie’ Sutton and ‘Scarface’ Al Capone.”

Display at Capone’s cell. (Photo by Suzanne Keller)

It is currently operated by Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site Inc., a nonprofit organization. (See photos in the gallery below).

Aerial view of Eastern State Penitentiary. (Carol Highsmith | Library of Congress)

Here are some fun facts and some photos we took at the prison:

When it was opened, the prison was considered “an architectural wonder” with running water and central heat, which even the White House didn’t have at the time.

When completed in 1836, under the supervision of architect John Haviland, it had 450 cells covering 11 acres. It cost nearly $780,000 to build.

It was the largest building in the world when it was completed. Philadelphians seemed to enjoy the challenge of creating massive buildings; check out my photos of City Hall here.

It was a tourist attraction before it even opened. The Marquis de Lafayette toured the unfinished project in 1824 on his tour of the United States and people traveled by the carriage-load to see it.

In 1842, Charles Dickens visited from England to see Niagara Falls and Eastern State Penitentiary. According to the prison website, he was underwhelmed, writing: “The System is rigid, strict and hopeless solitary confinement, and I believe it, in its effects, to be cruel and wrong …”

Several movies were filmed at Eastern State, including “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009), “12 Monkeys” (1995), “Return to Paradise” (1998) and some lesser-known movies.

The first prisoner entered on October 25, 1829. He was convicted of stealing a $20 watch, a $3 gold seal, and a gold key. He was sentenced to two years.

Chicago gangster Al Capone entered Eastern State Penitentiary in 1929. The cell where he stayed for eight months was known to be much grander than those of his fellow prisoners. The Eastern State website quoted a 1929 article in the Philadelphia Public Ledger describing the cell: “The whole room was suffused in the glow of a desk lamp which stood on a polished desk … On the once-grim walls of the penal chamber hung tasteful paintings, and the strains of a waltz were being emitted by a powerful cabinet radio receiver of handsome design and fine finish…” We stopped at his recreated cell and I was curious: Why two beds? Did he host sleepovers? (See photos in the gallery below)

Thought Catalog called it one of the most haunted places in the world, saying people claim to hear people crying, calling out in pain and walking along the hallways. The prison has been the subject of several episodes on ghost-hunting TV shows.

Since 1991, the prison hosts a fundraising event at Halloween to help fund preservation efforts.

The prison once held female prisoners, as well as men. One such woman was Freda Frost, convicted of poisoning her husband. She was the last woman held there and was transferred to the Muncy Industrial Home for Women in 1923.

William “Slick Willie” Sutton was held in the prison for 11 years. Sutton was one of the most infamous bank robbers in the nation. In 1945, he and 11 other prisoners escaped from Eastern State by digging a tunnel but Sutton was recaptured just minutes later.

There is a beer truck and picnic tables for tourists in the activity yard where prisoners once exercised. One of the cells was also converted into a gift shop where visitors can buy fridge magnets with Capone’s mugshot, among other unique items.

See the gallery below and check out my posts from other sites in Philly: