Eastern State Penitentiary

Philadelphia's 'preserved ruin' is worth visiting for its history and creepy visuals

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Even though we’ve lived only 120 miles or so from Philadelphia for the past 25 years, I can count on both hands the number of times I’ve spent extended time in the city.

That’s my mistake, and I admit my bias against the city’s large, loud, and proudly obnoxious sports fanbase has something to do with it. I know Philadelphia has a great arts and theater scene along with the cheesesteaks and link to the earliest days of our nation’s history.

You would think that last part would be enough to tip the scales, but thus far it hasn’t. Even though the Amtrak goes through Philadelphia’s 30th Street station on the way to New York, we turn onto the New Jersey Turnpike and skip the city when we drive by car. So, other than on a couple of business trips, a tour of the Liberty Bell when our kids were small, and overnight jaunts to see our son in two touring musicals ( “Newsies” premiered there), I haven’t shown the city much brotherly love.

But on a damp, cloudy April morning, I drove to Philadelphia’s historic Fairmount neighborhood to finally visit a bucket list site for me: The world’s first true penitentiary.

The gloomy weather suited the Eastern State Penitentiary, a prison opened in 1829 and closed more than 140 years later. Designed by British architect John Haviland, the prison has the look of a neo-Gothic wagon wheel, with seven corridors of 8- by 12-foot cells connected by a central hub.

1855 lithograph by P.S: Duval and Co. (Wikipedia)

It originally was designed to house 250 convicts in isolation, a practice that ended in 1913 due to overcrowding problems. At its peak in the mid 1920s, the prison had 1,700 inmates; mobster Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton were its most famous prisoners.

Al Capone’s cell.

When it was completed, the penitentiary was the largest and most expensive public structure in the nation, bigger and more costly than the U.S. Capitol. Its design has been copied by more than 300 prisons around the world; each cell is lit only by skylights or windows.

Open year-round to the public for self-guided as well as guided tours, the city-owned property is described as a “preserved ruin,” with only stabilization and necessary repairs. It holds many special events throughout the year, including a popular haunted house each October.

I’ve long known this would be a fun photography outing and made a vow to go after seeing images taken by Gary Rubin, a local friend. The place is cinematic; among the movies filmed there were Terry Gilliam’s “Twelve Monkeys,” which turned the location into a mental hospital.

I also knew it would be creepy. The penitentiary has been used as a location for numerous reality shows focusing on the paranormal — no longer permitted, according to the Eastern State website.

Fortunately, I picked a good time to do the shoot. Going on a late spring weekday morning when school was still in session meant I didn’t have to deal with large tour groups. I also opted for the self-guided tour to have more flexibility, although it would be worthwhile to go back for the narrated version to get more details.

Digging into my pictures for this story, I noticed two things. First was the number of verticals I shot because of the narrow corridors; usually I’m 80-20 in favor of horizontal, but this time it was more like 50-50. And with only a handful of exceptions, all of the images work just as well — if not better — in black and white. I’ve tried to give you a nice mix here.

I hope you like them. And if you ever go to Philadelphia, be sure to check it out for yourself.