Eastern State Penitentiary Philadelphia Some locations hold trauma like a jar with the lid twisted on too tightly. No matter how hard one tries, the contents can never be emptied. Eastern State Penitentiary is just such a place. Home to many thousands of criminals over the years, this vessel contains memories so dark and haunting that shadows don''t bother hiding in the corners. They are right at home, moving about freely through the rays of sun that stream in from the skylights above. It seems that those who were silenced in the past refuse to remain quiet in the present. The History In the early years of colonial America, prisons were used as temporary holding stations for individuals who''d been accused of crimes. They would remain locked up until their trial was completed, at which time they would either be released or publicly punished.

Punishments ranged from branding, beating, or maiming to execution. The death penalty could be imposed for a wide range of crimes, including witchcraft, pick-pocketing, and horse stealing. Colonial prisons were designed for mass incarceration. Men, women, and children were housed together in large, communal cells. A hungry child jailed for stealing a loaf of bread was locked away with murderers and rapists. Prisons were filthy breading grounds for disease, assault, and robbery. At a time when anyone could be sent to prison for accusations of witchcraft and idolatry, many innocent people found themselves thrown into cells with violent criminals. However, early colonial Pennsylvania''s justice system looked a little different than that of the other 13 colonies.

The population''s roots in the Quaker faith were evident in their criminal code. Only those found guilty of murder were executed, and public physical punishments were not imposed. Instead, criminals served sentences of hard labor. While other colonies charged prisoners for food and shelter during their incarceration, prisoners served their terms in Pennsylvania without paying for such necessities. When prison reformers called for more humane punishment for criminals in the late 1700s, it is no surprise that Pennsylvania answered the call. The state became the home of the world''s first true penitentiary. The term "penitentiary" comes from the idea that criminals should make penance for their sins. The institution was inspired by the Quakers'' belief that true reformation of criminal behavior comes through repentance brought about in the quiet contemplation found in solitary confinement.

Construction of the Eastern State Penitentiary started in 1822. Built on 10 acres of farmland known as Cherry Hill, the facility was initially called Cherry Hill State Prison. At the time, it was the largest and most expensive structure ever constructed in the Northeast. With high-arching ceilings, glass skylights, and gothic architecture, the building gave off the air of a house of worship rather than a home of reform for criminals. But that sense of religious nostalgia was by design, meant to aid in inspiring repentance. The prison welcomed its first inmate, Charles Williams, a farmer found guilty of thievery, on October 23, 1829. He was led into the facility with an eyeless hood over his face. And so his two years of isolation began.

Prisoners who called the penitentiary home would spend 23 hours a day in one of the facility''s 12-by-8-by-10-foot concrete-walled cells. They were allowed one to two daily exercise breaks outdoors in a private yard. Cells were essentially impervious to outside noise, leaving prisoners with only the sounds of their own thoughts. Inmates were provided three meals a day, a Bible to read, and work to complete in their cells, such as weaving or shoemaking. The goal was complete isolation. This style of incarceration was known as the Pennsylvania System. While the idea of solitude and self-reflection was rooted in compassion and carried the intention of moving criminals toward true repentance and a better life, many critics argued that the reality was torturous. Rather than reform, they believed the isolation led to insanity and even death.

One notable critic of the system was legendary author Charles Dickens, who visited Eastern State Penitentiary as an observational guest in 1842. He later wrote of his visit, "I am persuaded that those who designed this system. do not know what it is they are doing. I hold the slow and daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain to be immeasurably worse than any torture of the body." As if being isolated in one''s room for 23 hours a day wasn''t bad enough, inmates declared to be unruly would find themselves in "the Hole." Each of these four tiny cells was devoid of light and plumbing. With limited circulation, the air was stifling, dank, and thick with the stench of urine and feces. The "Death" book, still housed at the penitentiary, holds the names, dates, and manners of death of hundreds of inmates.

Death by suicide was common, as was homicide and illness. An epidemic of tuberculosis killed nearly 600 individuals at Eastern State Penitentiary. Over the years, many inmates serving life sentences simply died of natural causes brought upon by old age. At least two guards lost their lives to violence, including over-seer Michael T. Doran, who was murdered by inmate Joseph Taylor in 1834. No stranger to violence, Taylor was serving time for what the newspapers called "murderous assault." In addition to his general inclination toward violence, Taylor became convinced the guards were trying to poison him. On May 21, he disassembled the sewing machine that he used as a stocking weaver, and he clubbed Officer Doran to death in his private exercise yard.

After murdering Mr. Doran, Taylor returned to his cell, lay on his bed, and took a nap. Reports of insanity brought on by total isolation and the startling number of inmates escaping the torment by ending their own lives left many questioning the humanity of the prison''s methods. When the Pennsylvania System for incarceration was abandoned in 1913, the facility designed for complete solitude had to be reimagined to create common spaces for prisoners. An era of total isolation for all convicts came to an end. By 1926, Eastern State, which was initially intended to hold 250 inmates, held 1,700. Over the years, the structure grew from the original seven single-story cellblocks to include an additional eight two-story cellblocks. As the prison adapted and grew, violence continued to flourish within its walls.

Riots, murder, and suicide remained prevalent until the prison closed its doors in 1971. In its 142 years of operation, nearly 85,000 prisoners lived within its walls. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands, died there. The Hauntings Given the history of human suffering and death in Eastern State Penitentiary, it''s not surprising that it''s considered one of the most haunted locations in America. Reports of ghostly activity began decades before the prison shut down. In fact, inmates and guards reported hauntings as early as the 1920s. By the 1940s, inmates and guards reported shadowy figures and unexplained noises throughout the prison. Phantom voices and disembodied screams remain a common occurrence reported by staff and visitors today.

People report being touched and pushed by unseen hands. One tour guide recalls a startling experience in the rotunda--the center of the prison where each cell block branches off. A person can stand in the center and look down each corridor to the very end. On this day, the guide had just finished speaking with a group of about 40 visitors. As the group moved on, he noticed someone over his shoulder. Assuming a member of the tour was lagging behind, he turned to speak to them, but no one was there. Again, he saw them behind his shoulder. And again, he turned to face them, but the rotunda was empty.

That''s when he saw the figure of a man moving slowing down a cell block alone. With each step, his image became more transparent until eventually, he simply vanished. Another notable paranormal experience involved the cell of Joseph Taylor, the inmate who bludgeoned Officer Doran to death. As a locksmith worked to pick a padlock to open the cell door, he had a vision of a violent spirit on the other side. Could it have been the tortured soul of Taylor, waiting to attack his next victim? Several paranormal television shows have filmed investigations at Eastern State Penitentiary. Evidence ranges from sounds of jail cells opening on their own and footsteps scuffling across the floor in empty cells and hallways to disembodied screams and electronic voice phenomena (EVPs--when voices that were not heard with the human ear are captured on recording) calling out investigators'' names and telling them to "get out." One team caught compelling footage of a black entity in the corridor of an empty cellblock. The figure seemed to rise from the floor and rush back toward the end of the hallway.

While the team painstakingly tried to debunk it, even coming back later to try recreating the scenario with a member of their crew in a black cape, they could find no logical explanation for what they''d captured on camera. Was a curious soul from the prison''s dark history sneaking in and out of the shadows to see what was going on? Do the screams of inmates from the past, trapped in an eternal loop of suffering, slip into the present every now and then? It''s hard to know for certain why some places seem to hold energy like a glass jar. What we do know is that inmates entered Eastern State Penitentiary carrying the weight of their sins. Some were undoubtedly remorseful. Others brought their own demons, weaving a web in their minds like a venomous spider entangling its prey in a cocoon of evil. These walls.