The oldest prison in America, this is a fun, unique, and kind of creepy tour that you can visit in Philadelphia. Eastern State Penitentiary’s website is full of information and worth reading if you have time.
The original prison was created to have solitary cells for prisoners to fully spend time alone, and with God, to come to penitence. They never saw, or interacted, with other prisoners. Each prisoner had their own interior cell, and a small outside space that was used once an hour for their exercise.
The prison was created with a center hall, then wings that went out like the spokes of the wheel. Over time, with the increase of prisoners, they created two story wings, as well as doubling up the cells.
In the 1900’s, this space was used for football and baseball. In the 60’s, it was discovered that baseballs would be hit out of the park, then returned over the same fence containing drugs or a weapon in it.
As the boys and I were going down one wing that has art exhibits within the cells, ‘R’ noticed the picture of one of the artists in the corner of the informational board. He said, “mom, doesn’t this look like the lady we saw yesterday who owned that boutique you liked?” I responded, “yes, that looks a lot like her.”. Then, I looked up and saw the artist talking with someone else. I asked if she was the person on the board and she said yes. She overheard our conversation and wondered if we would realize she was there. We had a little chuckle. Here is a picture I took of her, alongside with the informational board of her and her piece of work. Another funny side note: I ran into her at the TSA line in Philly. She recognized me, but could not recall the context.
This is the door to a very “special” cell…Al Capone’s cell. Obviously, he was given some favor.
