Eastern State Penitentiary

Why It Matters

When Eastern State Penitentiary opened in 1829, it was the most expensive building in America and the most influential prison in the world. Its revolutionary design—individual cells with private outdoor exercise yards, all radiating from a central surveillance hub—was copied by over 300 prisons worldwide. The theory was simple: complete isolation would lead to penitence. Prisoners lived in total silence, hooded when moved, forbidden from communicating with guards or fellow inmates. They ate, slept, worked, and exercised alone. The result was catastrophic. Inmates went insane at alarming rates. Charles Dickens visited in 1842 and declared the system cruel and wrong. Despite abandoning strict solitary confinement, the prison continued operating until 1971, housing infamous inmates including Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton. Today, the prison's crumbling cellblocks and haunting architecture make it one of America's most visited historic sites—and reportedly one of its most haunted.