Eastern State Penitentiary

Designed by John Haviland and opened in 1829, Eastern State Penitentiary is considered to be the world's first true penitentiary. Its revolutionary system of incarceration, dubbed the "Pennsylvania System" or Separate system, originated and encouraged solitary confinement as a form of rehabilitation. The Penitentiary was intended not simply to punish, but to move the criminal toward spiritual reflection and change. The method was a Quaker-inspired system of isolation from other prisoners, with labor. The early system was strict. To prevent distraction, knowledge of the building, and even mild interaction with guards, inmates were hooded whenever they were outside their cells. Each cell even included a personal exercise yard. Proponents of the system believed strongly that the criminals, exposed, in silence, to thoughts of their behavior and the ugliness of their crimes, would become genuinely penitent. Thus the new word, penitentiary. Charles Dickens visited the prison in the 1840s and found the conditions appalling. He described the inmates at Eastern Penn as being "buried alive..." and wrote about the psychological torture the inmates suffered at the hands of their captors.

As early as the 1940's employees and prisoners alike began reporting unusual activity within the prison's walls. But by now the sightings had increased a hundredfold. In 1951, the prison began to house more violent criminals such as murderers and rapists and this fact, combined with the prison's history of using physical torture as a form of punishment, have both contributed to it's being haunted. Voices, laughter and cackling have also been heard in the restricted Cell block 12 area. Other active areas include Cell block 6, where shadowy figures have been seen against the walls, and Cell block 4, where ghostly faces have been spotted. Visitors have reported hearing footsteps in the long, dark corridors and wails that seem to originate from the secluded cells. One major paranormal episode reported occurred to a locksmith doing restoration work in Cell Block #4. According to the tale, he was working to remove a 140-year-old lock from the cell door when a massive force overcame him so powerfully he was unable to move. Some believe when he removed the key it opened a gateway to the horrific past and offered the spirits caught behind its bars a pathway out. The man spoke of experiencing an out-of-body state as he was drawn toward the negative energy which burst through the cell.

Anguished faces appeared on the cell wall, hundreds of distorted forms swirled around the cell block and one dominating form seemed to beckon the locksmith to him. The man's experience was so vivid, years after he would shudder in fear when he talked about it.

Another common ghost sighting takes place in a guard tower high atop the prison's confining brick walls. The figure is thought to be some former prison guard, destined to stand watch over his wards for eternity. While some paranormal encounters give the spectator a sense of peace and benevolence, the spirits at Eastern State are usually angry and malevolent.
Tourists and employees have reported hearing weeping, giggling and whispering coming from inside the prison walls.