Culture

Hell ain’t a bad place to be – compared to Eastern State Penitentiary

 Think Alcatraz was bad? Try Eastern State.

More than 100 prisoners escaped from Eastern State Penitentiary during 142 years of active use. Wait a minute. Was this a prison or a launching pad? To be fair, all but one was re-captured. Still, what made Eastern State so bad? Let’s ask Charles Dickens. He toured the penitentiary in 1842 and later wrote, “The system is rigid, strict and hopeless solitary confinement, and I believe it, in all its effects, to be cruel and wrong…”

The Eastern State Penitentiary at 2124 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, did things a little bit differently than the rest.

In 1829 many leaders believed that crime was a result of environment, and that solitude would make the criminal regretful and penitent (thus the new word, penitentiary). First practiced in Philadelphia, this correctional theory became known as the Philadelphia System.

And they were serious about solitary confinement.

Great care was taken to keep prisoners completely separate and minimize contact between prisoners and guards. All contact between prisoners was prohibited - masks were fabricated to prevent communication during rare outdoor trips. Cells were built with feed doors and individual exercise yards.

Read about its first inmate: “…Charles Williams, Prisoner Number One. Burglar. Light Black Skin. Five feet seven inches tall. Foot: eleven inches. Scar on nose. Scar on thigh. Broad mouth. Black eyes. Farmer by trade. Can read. Theft included one twenty-dollar watch, one three-dollar gold seal, one gold key. Sentenced to two years confinement with labor. Received by Samuel R. Wood, first Warden, Eastern State Penitentiary…”

Yeah, it’s freaky but you know you want to go. No longer in use for incarceration, you can tour the facility daily during the city’s Sunoco Welcome America celebration. Visitors (that’s you) can tour the massive cellblocks and dark cells. Hear legendary stories of punishment and escape. Be glad you’re not a recidivist criminal in Pennsylvania during the 1800’s.

Eastern State is open from 10 am to 5 pm. Children under the age of seven are not permitted inside the building. Reservations are required for groups of 15 or more. Visit the penitentiary’s website for a $1 coupon and a very interesting look at penal history.

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