This is Eastern State Penitentiary built in 1829 and closed in 1971. This was the first prison in the world built to reform the prisoners instead of punishing them. At the time is was the most expensive public structure ever built and inspired many future designs. Originally it was meant to hold one inmate per cell which had full plumbing and running water when many the majority of the population had no such thing. The hub and spoke design was built as such so that one man could watch all of the prisoners at once from the hub looking down each hall. Over time though the prison became overcrowded and more halls added, future ones being two stories rather than the original single. The original cells had skylights to inspire the inmates being penitent to God, hence the name penitentiary. Each cell also allowed an inmate to have a small outside area, though it was walled in. There was even a baseball field which the inmates could play in. Over its history there were many breakouts including a tunnel which ran across the block, famous inmates like Al Capone and even a dog. Currently it is considered to be haunted and is undergoing restoration with some areas closed to the public.
Overhead drawing of the original
The outside walls from the street
Inside the walls
One of the original halls
Heavy wood cell door
What the original cells would have looked like
The skylight supposed to inspire the inmate to be penitent
The central hub, you can see clear down each hall
One of the added double decker halls
One of the open newer halls
The hole found for one of the tunnel escapes. The inmates managed to escape but were all captured in the city.
Pep the dog. He was incarcerated for killing the wardens cat I believe.
Al Capone's cell, being a mob boss sure brought you lots of comforts even in prison.
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