A Virtual Tour of Spooky Eastern State Penitentiary

Eastern State Penitentiary

Few buildings evoke as much fear as prisons, and the old ones don't get less creepy when they close. One such buildings is Philidelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary, the world’s first real “penitentiary,” it was the first prison designed specifically to inspire penitence, or true regret for one's sins.

• Eastern State Penitentiary
• Eastern State Penitentiary
• Eastern State Penitentiary
• Eastern State Penitentiary
• Eastern State Penitentiary
• Eastern State Penitentiary

Eastern State Penitentiary

Its grand architecture, solitary confinement, and strict discipline were the tools used to break a person's spirit. Opened in 1829 its modern conveniences of running water and central heat (before the White House had those luxuries) was less for comfort and more for the industrialization of human confinement.

Eastern State Penitentiary

Once seen as groundbreaking, it's mission to change the behavior of inmates through "confinement in solitude with labor," is now widely considered barbaric. Although many of those who spent time in its walls were simply poor Black men, high profile criminals like “Slick Willie” Sutton and Al "Scarface" Capone also stayed here.

Eastern State Penitentiary

If you can't make it for one of Eastern State Penitentiary's Halloween tours, there are online tours available, and we have more of the creepiest images right here:

Eastern State Penitentiary

Eastern State Penitentiary