Looking for a little day trip adventure and something a little different? Let’s visit the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia!
I have a running list on my phone to refer to any time we have a free afternoon, weekend, fill in the blank. I add to it as I find things. Some of the items on the list are free and local. Some are a bit of a drive. Just a hodge podge so that when we are looking for something to do, I have a list to refer to easily, instead of wasting time trying to find something to do. The Eastern State Penitentiary has been on the list for a few years, and we were finally able to cross it off. My kids and I like to do off-the-beaten path stuff, mixed in with straight up touristy stuff, and this certainly fit the bill.
I put the address in my Waze app and away we went. It was about an hour and a half drive for us, and very easy to find. There is an adjacent parking lot, with plenty of space. The admission to the Penitentiary is inexpensive, and you can save a few bucks if you purchase your tickets ahead of time online, like we did.
The prison was operational from 1829 through 1971, and it now operates as a charitable non-profit organization and is a National US Historic Landmark. It seriously oozes history around every corner. It was once the largest and most expensive prison in the United States and even housed many “celebrity” criminals, including Al Capone (his cell block is pictured below). This particular prison was said to be the model for 300+ prisons that were erected after it. Unlike many other prisons, each of the cells here had its own faucet and flush toilet, which was controlled remotely by the guards. The prison design changed a bit while it was being built because it became very overcrowded very quickly. The original design called for seven one-story cell blocks, but halfway through, it was already past capacity, and second floors started being added. In the early 1920s, there was even an actual dog sentenced to prison for allegedly the Pennsylvania Governor’s wife’s cat!
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