Search results
- The decaying castle-like structure is one of America’s most notorious prisons and considered the most haunted site in Pennsylvania. Today, the massive historic structure is open for public tours and hosts a Halloween Haunted House attraction.
ghostcitytours.com/philadelphia/haunted-philadelphia/eastern-state-penitentiary/
People also ask
What is the most haunted prison in Philadelphia?
How much are Halloween nights at Eastern State Penitentiary?
What is the Eastern State Penitentiary?
Is there a ghost in the Philadelphia Penitentiary?
Oct 4, 2023 · Nonetheless, while Eastern State Penitentiary certainly played host to many unjust and inhumane events, the Rite Aid was actually built on top of an 18th-century mass grave site.
- Fast Facts
- Is Eastern State Penitentiary Haunted?
- What Year Was Eastern State Penitentiary established?
- Solitary Confinement in Eastern State Penitentiary
- Punishment at Eastern State Penitentiary
- The Fall of Eastern State Penitentiary
- Halloween Haunted House at Eastern State Penitentiary
When it was built, the Eastern State Penitentiary was one of the most expensive buildings in the United States.Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventuresconducted a paranormal investigation at the prison and captured disembodied voices, shadow figures, and other unexplainable occurrences.Notorious criminals like Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton did time at Eastern State Penitentiary.Eastern State Penitentiary is on the bucket list for most paranormal investigation groups. Teams brave enough to search for evidence of paranormal entities don’t ever seem to leave empty-handed. Sci-Fi’s Ghost Huntersrevealed what appeared to be the apparition of a man walking through Cell Block 12. A crew for Travel Channel’s Most Haunted,recorded...
Criminal justice in the 1700s was quite different than it is today. Let’s say you made the mistake of stealing gold jewelry from your rich boss and you got caught. You would expect to be flogged, whipped, or even hang from the gallows. The Quakers of early Philadelphia were pacifists and of course felt uneasy with this. That’s when they dreamt up a...
On paper, the accommodations inside the first cell blocks were lavish. When the penitentiary opened in 1829, the building had more amenities than the White House. Each prisoner had their own cell that was centrally heated with running water and a flushing toilet. The prison was immaculately clean. But this was no Marriott. The goal was to force iso...
The Iron Gag
Let’s say you’re a few months into your sentence in 1834 and you can’t bear keeping your mouth shut a moment longer. That’s how inmate Mathias Maccumsey may have felt in 1833. While he was serving time for manslaughter, Maccumsey tried to talk to his neighbor. When he got caught by guards, they slapped the Iron Gag on him. To do this, they bound and shackled his hands behind his back. They put an iron casted gag over his tongue. The gag was attached by chains to the shackles on his wrists. Th...
The Mad Chair
Early Philadelphia doctors believed mental illness spread through the body through circulation. They thought they could cure insanity by simply making sure blood couldn’t pump through the body. The best way to do this? Restricting all movement. The Mad Chair was created so inmates could be strapped in so tightly it was literally impossible to move a muscle. They would be forced to sit in this chair for days without food. Restricting the blood flow inevitably caused damage to the body, and inm...
The Water Bath
If you broke the rules during the winter season, you could be subjected to another horrific punishment. A guard would dunk your head in ice-cold water, then hang you on a wall all night. The frigid air would cause your skin to ice over before morning and many didn’t make it through.
When the massive structure was created in 1828, it garnered international attention. Tourists began to flock to the area and ride in their wagons, just to get a glimpse of the place. It didn’t take long for the outside world to question the ethics of this forced isolation. Charles Dickens visited the prison in his travels to America and shared his ...
The penitentiary hosts a Terror Behind the Wallsexperience every Halloween. It’s one of the country’s top-ranked haunted attractions. More than 200 performers are part of the show that’s designed to send even the bravest muscleheads crying for their mommies. If a haunted attraction in a haunted prison isn’t creepy enough for you, it doesn’t have to...
Find answers to the most frequently asked questions about Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary. A Halloween festival of epic proportions. From the creators of Terror Behind the Walls.
Oct 31, 2019 · The Eastern State Penitentiary was originally constructed as a radical departure from other prisons of its time. Initially imagined by the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons, the first prison reform group in the world, it pioneered a system of solitary confinement.
Tickets start at $39. Step inside Eastern State's massive front gate and into a Halloween festival of epic proportions — featuring five thrilling haunted houses plus historic tours, themed bars, live entertainment, and more — all inside the massive, abandoned complex of a real, ten-acre prison.
Sep 20, 2024 · Activating all of Eastern State Penitentiary’s 10 acres, Halloween Nights features 15 separate attractions, including five terrifying haunted houses, historic tours, live performances, themed bars and lounges, and other hidden surprises.
Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary is open select evenings from September 20 to November 9, 2024. Opening and closing times vary each evening. Tickets are sold in half-hour entry times.
