Historic Philadelphia Prison

Eastern State Penitentiary: The World's First True Reformatory

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

By the Wicked Cool Places editors · Published Wed, Mar 18, 2026 · Updated Sat, Jul 25, 2026

Why it’s cool

This massive stone fortress pioneered the penitentiary model, trading physical brutality for absolute silence and isolation. While it offered modern luxuries like private toilets, its psychological toll was so severe it famously horrified Charles Dickens.

Northeast Historic

Rising like a medieval fortress amidst the urban grid of Philadelphia, this massive stone structure was never intended for royalty. Instead, it was the site of a radical social experiment.

When it opened in , Eastern State Penitentiary was the most expensive and technologically advanced building of its time, designed not just to punish, but to encourage genuine spiritual regret, hence the name "penitentiary."

Why It Stands Out

In an era when the White House lacked indoor plumbing, prisoners here enjoyed private toilets, central heating, and individual skylights meant to represent the "Eye of God." However, these comforts came at a heavy psychological cost. The facility operated under the "separate system," where inmates lived in total isolation.

They ate alone, exercised in private yards, and were forbidden from speaking. To ensure absolute quiet, guards wore felt covers over their shoes, and prisoners were forced to wear hoods whenever they left their cells to prevent them from seeing a human face.

This experiment in total solitude eventually drew international criticism. During an visit, Charles Dickens denounced the system as a form of mental torture far worse than physical violence.

The nearby Mütter Museum also explores the history of human suffering and science. Despite its high-minded beginnings, the prison eventually succumbed to overcrowding and transitioned to a more traditional communal model.

Before closing its doors in , the facility housed notorious figures like bank robber Willie Sutton and Al Capone; the latter famously occupied a cell outfitted with fine furniture, oil paintings, and a radio. Today, the building is preserved in a state of "magnificent decay," with peeling paint and crumbling masonry providing a stark backdrop to its grim history.

Another historic location with a dark atmosphere is the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site.

Before You Go

The site is open for public tours and is best experienced through the self-guided audio program, which features narration by Steve Buscemi and interviews with former guards and inmates. Because the building is kept in a semi-ruined state, it can be quite cold in the winter; seasonal "Winter Adventure" tours are available for those who don't mind the chill.

Throughout the year, the penitentiary also hosts unique events, including a Bastille Day festival and a popular haunted attraction during the Halloween season.

Questions worth answering

What was the actual goal of the isolation policy?

The founders believed absolute silence would lead to spiritual regret. They even forced inmates to wear hoods so no human faces were ever visible.

How did the living conditions compare to other buildings in the 1800s?

It was more advanced than the White House at the time. Cells featured central heating and private toilets long before those became standard elsewhere.

Is there a specific way we should explore the grounds?

We recommend the audio tour narrated by Steve Buscemi. It includes accounts from people who actually lived and worked behind these stone walls.

What should we expect from the atmosphere inside?

The site is kept in a state of decay with crumbling walls and peeling paint. It gets very cold during the winter months, so dress for the temperature.

Visit Snapshot

The site offers a self-guided audio tour narrated by Steve Buscemi that includes first-hand accounts from people who lived and worked there. Visitors can see Al Capone's restored luxury cell and explore the crumbling cellblocks.

Special seasonal events include Winter Adventure Tours, Bastille Day celebrations, and a Haunted Halloween experience.

Location

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Editorial source

Eastern State Penitentiary

Thrust into the middle of urban Philadephia is what looks like a great castle, a massive and haunting building. However, these walls weren't built to keep Crusaders and robbers out, but to keep them in.

This castle is a prison. Until this edifice was constructed, prisons had generally been commercial ventures, filled with prostitutes, booze, corrupt officials, and little to no order.

Starvation, cold, disease, and violence often put an end to prisoners before they were even sentenced. Opened in , Eastern State was designed by the "Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons" as a new type of prison where order reigned and those housed within might have a chance to be penitent for their crimes.

Eastern State was to be the world's first "penitentiary." Compared to other facilities, Eastern State was a technological marvel and, at a cost of $,, one of the most expensive building projects of its day. At a time when President Andrew Jackson was still using a chamber pot, prisoners in Eastern State had their own private toilets.

Inmates were served three hearty meals a day (usually boneless beef, pork, or soup and unlimited potatoes) and had their own private exercise areas. The cells each had skylights so that the divine wisdom of God might shine down upon those inside.

In essence, Eastern State was a paradise compared to other prisons of the time. But despite all its material comforts, this "paradise" drove men mad.

Known as the "separate system," part of what made Eastern State unique is that prisoners weren't allowed to interact with other prisoners at all, in any way. They ate alone, they exercised alone, and they read the bible (the only book they were allowed) alone.

They weren't allowed to talk to each other or to the guards. On the rare occasions they were taken out of their cells, hoods were put over their heads.

Guards even wore felt shoe covers so as to keep the prison as quiet as possible. Utter silence, utter solitude.

It was meant to inspire penance; instead, it inspired insanity. When Charles Dickens visited the prison in , he wrote, "The system here is rigid, strict, and hopeless solitary confinement.

I believe it, in its effects, to be cruel and wrong. I hold this slow, and daily, tampering with the mysteries of the brain to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body." Eventually, due to overcrowding and disapproval of the "separate system," Eastern State changed into a more standard prison, known then as the "New York System," in which inmates shared cells and were permitted to communicate.

The prison remained in use for years, from until , and housed such criminal luminaries as Willie Sutton and Al Capone (Capone was allowed a comparatively lavish cell with furniture, oil paintings, and a radio). Left abandoned for many years, it was narrowly saved from destruction, and in Eastern State re-opened its massive doors to the public.

Left in a state of magnificent decay, anyone who finds themselves in Philadelphia would be well advised to pay a visit - and to be penitent. The self-guided audio tour features interviews with former inmates and guards, and is narrated by actor and director Steve Buscemi.

The penitentiary offers a number of special tours, including "prison uprisings," Winter Adventure Tours, a Bastille Day celebration, and a Haunted Halloween tour. Obscura Day location: April , .

Eastern State Penitentiary: The World's First True Reformatory

Why it’s cool

Why It Stands Out

Before You Go

Questions worth answering

What was the actual goal of the isolation policy?

How did the living conditions compare to other buildings in the 1800s?

Is there a specific way we should explore the grounds?

What should we expect from the atmosphere inside?

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Mütter Museum

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