The Quakers who designed Eastern State believed criminals could be reformed through isolation and reflection. Remove all corrupting influences - other prisoners, guards, even light - and the soul would heal itself. The word 'penitentiary' derives from 'penitence': the prison was meant to produce genuine remorse. Inmates received a Bible. They worked alone in their cells. They exercised in individual yards. When transported through hallways, they wore hoods to prevent seeing others. The system was called 'separate' confinement - every prisoner existed in complete isolation, confronting only their conscience and their God.

Architect John Haviland created a masterpiece of Gothic intimidation. The fortress exterior announced severe consequences. Inside, seven cellblocks radiated from a central surveillance hub - a design copied worldwide and still used in modern prisons. Each cell had private plumbing (before the White House had it), a small exercise yard, and a central skylight. The building was simultaneously humane and terrifying: better facilities than most free citizens enjoyed, used to impose psychological torture through absolute isolation. The architecture made the philosophy physical. Walls became weapons.

Dickens visited in 1842 and was horrified. 'The system here is rigid, strict, and hopeless solitary confinement,' he wrote. 'I believe it, in its effects, to be cruel and wrong.' Prisoners showed symptoms of severe psychological deterioration - hallucinations, self-harm, catatonia, madness. The isolation that was supposed to heal instead destroyed. By the 1870s, strict solitary had been abandoned at Eastern State; the prison converted to congregate confinement. But the building that pioneered solitary had already exported the concept worldwide. Modern supermax prisons trace their philosophy directly to Eastern State's failed experiment.

Eastern State held famous prisoners: Al Capone served eight months in a luxuriously appointed cell (his sentence was for carrying a concealed weapon in Philadelphia). Willie Sutton, the bank robber who allegedly said he robbed banks 'because that's where the money is,' escaped through a tunnel in 1945. But most inmates were ordinary criminals subjected to extraordinary punishment. The prison operated until 1971, when it was finally abandoned - crumbling, overcrowded, outdated. The building sat empty for decades before reopening as a museum and haunted house. It now draws visitors who come to see where America learned to punish.

Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site is located in the Fairmount neighborhood of Philadelphia, roughly 2 miles from City Hall. Open daily for self-guided audio tours narrated by Steve Buscemi; guided tours available for specific topics. The building is a 'stabilized ruin' - preserved in its state of decay rather than restored. Al Capone's cell has been reconstructed. Death Row is accessible. Terror Behind the Walls, an annual haunted house event, operates during Halloween season. The museum addresses prison reform, mass incarceration, and the legacy of solitary confinement. Philadelphia has extensive lodging and transit. Allow 2-3 hours for a thorough visit.