Eastern_State_Penetentiary

Eastern Giant Imagine being confined within 11 acres of solid steel and stone with no hopes of ever seeing outside of those walls ever again. For many of the inmates at Eastern State Penitentiary, such as bank robber Willie Sutton and notorious mobster Al Capone, this was a reality. If those conditions already sound bleak enough, this prison was run through a system of work labor and solitary confinement, which was coined the “Pennsylvania System”. Although this prison may seem barbaric today, it was incredibly revolutionary back then. To better understand the nature of this intense structure, it is imperative to delve into the history and architecture of Eastern State, discover why this facility isn't used anymore, and learn what the present state of this prison is. Eastern State penitentiary was opened on October 25th, 1829, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (coincidentally the same year that Robert Peel's London Metropolitan Police Act came into effect) after architect John Haviland finished construction. In most cases, this is considered to be the first true prison in the world, despite the fact that the Walnut Street jail was operating as early as 1776. The prison design was something very new, resembling the form of that of a wagon wheel (a circular center with hallways extending forth in a radial form, like spokes), and resulted in Eastern State's architecture becoming the basis for as many as 300 other prisons worldwide. The all stone cells within were accessed by a steel door, with a wooden door to filter out noise. Each cell was 8x12x10 feet and came with its own hot water heating, toilet, water tap, and individual exercise yards which were also 8x12x10. This left hardly any reasons that the inmate had to leave his cell during the day (other than labor). When the inmate had to work, he would walk down halls, resembling those of a church, to his work area. That architecture is no coincidence. It was done with the grand idea of reform in mind. Eastern State penitentiary, being based off of the Pennsylvania system, was intending reform through means of solitary confinement and work. The thought was that enough time alone would force prisoners to connect with God, thus seeking repentance for their crimes. Guards and councilors of the prison also administered a variety of physical and psychological torture methods to the inmates. These included covering prisoners in freezing water outside during winter months, chaining prisoners tongues to their wrists, strapping prisoners into chairs with tight leather restraints for days at a time, and/or throwing prisoners into a special cell called the “hole”, which provided no light, no contact, and little food for as long as 2 months. Also, back then, it was not widely known back then that excessive solitary confinement would lead to serious mental illness. This was quickly found out and led to the abandonment of the solitary system for Eastern State in 1913. Being that these conditions were so terrible and brutal, many inmates had hopes of escaping. On April 3rd, 1945, a major escape attempt was made by 12 inmates, including the infamous Willie Sutton. He had dug an undiscovered 97 foot long tunnel underneath the prison walls, and used that as his passage. Although this escape worked, it was only for about the period of a year that they managed to elude capture. It is a surprise that this was the only major escape attempt, given that during renovations in the 1930's there were at least 30 unfinished inmate-dug tunnels. It could have been that these tunnels were in progress when the prison collapsed and was abandoned in 1971 due to bad overcrowding conditions. This property was bought out by the city of Philadelphia after the abandonment, and was proposed to be either a mall or apartment complex. Neither of those plans took hold, and today Eastern State sits as a monument to American prison history. It was declared a national landmark in 1966, and it is available and open to tours, and a variety of other functions. Eastern State also has a notorious record for being haunted, due to the extreme conditions and emotional distress that probably occurred there. It has been the subject of many paranormal investigations and T.V. Shows such as Ghost Adventures, and Ghost Hunters. Also, parts of this institution were used in the filming of Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. No matter what uses the prison carries with itself today, it is still a reminder of what confinement used to be like, and in comparison, how well inmates live in our prisons today.