I have seen several specials on Eastern State Penitentiary and a couple of Ghost Hunters shows as well. This place has been deemed one of the creepiest places in the world, “hell on earth”, and called “pure evil” by many. Since this is one of the many places I would like to visit someday, I decided to do a blog on this immense prison that has seen a very violent past. Near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania stands a fortress type structure known as the Eastern State Penitentiary. It was considered a great social experiment that would turn some inmates into raving lunatics, inspired fear in most hardened criminals, and is rumored to have ghosts roaming its cold, decaying walls, haunting the living. Today the place stands as a museum and was saved by a group of devoted preservationist, opening this historic site to the public. They intentionally preserved it in its eerie, derelict state to keep it authentic so that visitors can get a small glimpse of what kind of hell a prisoner went through.For 142 years Eastern State Penitentiary was one of the most feared correctional institutions in the world having 75,000 men and women passing through its gates. In 1787 at meeting at Benjamin Franklin’s Philadelphia home, an idea of a new way to reform prisoners was born. Most prisons at this time were open rooms where adults and children were kept encouraging violence and disease with no hope for any of the prisoners to be reformed. Funded mostly by Quakers, it took more than three decades of planning before their masterpiece was revealed in 1829. The exterior looks like a castle and having the interior carefully built for the most foul of prisoners. In the middle stood the central rotunda room where you could view down all the cell blocks just by standing in one spot. Above this room stands the guard tower where they had a clear view of the inmates in the exercise yards and all the rooftops. While the guards may have had a view of the entire prison; the prisoners were kept in solitary confinement. Their view were of cell walls and a tiny patch of sky known as “the eye of God”, which made them feel like they were in a tomb. They had running water and central heat in each of the cells because there was to be no conversing with other inmates or the guards. For the two years of their sentencing they were aloud to take two breaks a day in their personal exercise yard, spending 23 hours in their cells. They were fed through a small slot called a “feeding hole” so that the guards wouldn’t have to come in contact with the prisoner. Once they were locked away, their loved ones and past life no longer exist with any letters or visitation aloud. It was eerie quiet in the facility and the prisoners felt like they were in a tomb and buried alive. Many of the prisoners suffered with extreme madness and insanity which some say is still felt in the dreary, rusting walls of the prison.
By the 19th century, the guards felt empowered and dealt out brutal punishment to the prisoners if they tried to make contact with others. They would remove the light in their cells, starved them, or used inhuman torture. The prison was becoming a hellhole. Even Charles Dickens, who visited the prison with the best of hope, said that it was the worst prison on Earth. Five years after it opened, an investigation of wrong doing was finally enacted with harsh punishments handed down. By 1913, during the industrial revolution, the prison was modified by using the prisoners as free labor. They opened a work shop, a dining hall and gave the prisoners cellmates bringing this once hellhole to more like other contemporary prisons. The prison that once housed petty criminals is now holding murderers, rapist and other very violent criminals in its cells. The most famous man to be imprisoned in Cell block 8 of the prison was Al Capone. Capone and friend were visiting Philadelphia when they were caught and arrested for carrying firearms. He was sentenced to eight months and started his stay in May of 1929. Capone was treated like royalty and was aloud to have many amenities in his cells that others were not privy to. Rumors are that he either stop a fight between prisoners or made a heavy contribution which is why the preferential treatment. During his eight month stay he told the guards that he was being haunted by one of the men he killed at the St. Valentines Day massacre, James Clark. He could be heard screaming, “Jimmy don’t do it”, or “Jimmy don’t hit me” and said that Jimmy was in his cell. Was this the early sign of syphilis that would eventually kill him? In January of 1930, Al Capone walked out of the Eastern State Penitentiary but was in some way never really free.
In January of 1961, the biggest outbreak of violence happened in the prison with prisoners and guards in mortal danger. Riots were started along with fires, stabbings, and it ended with many officers and prisoners brutally beaten and killed by the violence. In 1971, Eastern State Penitentiary was closed because the city of Philadelphia was afraid that they could no longer contain the violence behind the massive 30 foot stone walls. The prisoners were dispersed to other institutions and the penitentiary was ruined by Mother Nature. The rotting exterior was almost torn down several times until 1991 when a band of preservationist restored many of the walls keeping most of it in the original state it was found in. Now you can take tour and learn all about the stories on how it began and how it was operated during its existence.
Many ghost hunters have investigated this massive place even TAPS. During their first visit they were told about the shadowy figure seen in Cell block 12 that came out of the last cell and just stood in the hallway. While investigating the team felt like they were being watched, saw black masts moving through the corridors and had the feeling of heaviness especially while in Cell block 12. But what they caught in Cell block 12 was something incredible! On their still video camera they caught what appeared to be a dark shadow figure wearing a cape, manifesting, turning quickly, and then bolting down the corridor. Jason and Grant was not sure what it was so they returned to the Eastern State Penitentiary for a couple more nights of investigating. They had Brian try to recreate the figure’s moves but it turned out to be similar but not exact. They decided not to say what it could have been and left the video out there for us to come to our own conclusion. If you haven’t seen it yet, and I don’t know anyone who hasn’t, I posted it below.
TAPS did return to Eastern State Penitentiary a year later but caught no viable evidence even though they had lots of creepy personal experiences.
