by Stacey Foxworthy

Created on: September 03, 2010

Eastern State Penitentiary was built in 1829. The Quakers of the Pennsylvania region felt that in place of punishment those convicted of a crime should be rehabilitated and reformed through the utilization of solitary confinement practices. For monks solitary confinement was practiced in order to help them reflect upon their lives and thus become closer with God. It was the Quakers belief that it could provide the same results for inmates convicted of criminal acts and sentenced to serve time behind bars.

The Eastern State Penitentiary was built to accommodate 250 prisoners in solitary confinement. Each prisoner had their own room of which they were confined for 23 out of 24 hours a day. Though the Quaker’s intentions were benevolent it was the actions of the guards and those supervising the facility that turned the prison into an eerie torture chamber. Inhumane and unspeakably torturous punishments were visited upon the prisoners of Eastern State Penitentiary. It was a place of great misery, emotional distress, pain, and death…the perfect breeding ground for ghostly activity.

In 1913 at a very popular time in its history Eastern State Penitentiary abandoned its solitary confinement policy as it began packing 1700 prisoners into overcrowded cells. From 1829 to 1913 the Pennsylvania System controlled the prison generating some of the most appalling conditions recorded in American history. Charles Dickens actually visited the facility in the 1840’s and was so disgusted by the levels of cruelty and mistreatment suffered by the prisoners at the hands of their captors that he wrote about it openly.

Word spread about the outlandish conditions of the prison. As a result the prison was removed from the soon-to-be dissolved Pennsylvania System’s control and reformed in 1913. In 1971 the prison was officially shut down for good.

During its rein as a solitary confinement facility prisoners were not allowed to communicate with other prisoners or guards. Even uttering words aloud to themselves was strictly forbidden. Many men once sane quickly slipped into madness. They were locked in their cells for all but one hour a day, wearing black hoods over their heads during those times they were allowed to venture outside. The purpose of this act was to eliminate communication between prisoners and guards. It also served to keep them disoriented in order to discourage and prevent successful escape attempts. It was reported that guards wore socks on their

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