The Haunted Files explore haunted places, either that are famous or little known. I do some research into the places history and talk about the apparent haunting and the possible reasons for it from research collected on history and background and then make a conclusion.
This shall be a 5-part series with one released each Tuesday.
The Location
The Eastern State Penitentiary is a massive former prison located in the US state of Pennsylvania in the city of Philadelphia in the Fairmont section of the city at 2027 Fairmont Avenue and was used from 1829 up until 1971. From the outside at the entrance of the prison, it looks like a castle fortress, a deliberate measure in hope that it caused enough fear to help deter crime, the rest of the complex is surrounded by a thick fortified wall. From the inside the former prison shows its age and history, with crumbling jail cells, broken windows, chipped walls, failing furniture and rusting metal. Historical Information and exhibits are dotted around for those who come to visit the complex, including Al Capone’s former cell, that included luxuries other inmates didn’t have access to.
The surveillance hub or rotunda is found at the center of the prison and connects to the cell blocks that stretch out from the center like an X and various smaller buildings are dotted between such as the bakery and kitchen.
Rubble and overgrown vegetation can be found in some of the courtyards and eerie vibes can often be felt about the place. Many come for the history, many for the architecture and exploration and others for the alleged paranormal activity that is said to bathe the complex and its buildings, a number of paranormal TV shows and investigators have themselves checked out the penitentiary in search of phantoms, uncanny sounds and disembodied voices. It is claimed by many to be the United States of America’s most haunted location, some even claim it to be the most haunted spot in the world.
The prison, having first opened more than 180 years ago has inspired the models of over 300 prisons not just in the US but also around the world. The building was a wonder for its time, originally being the largest public building in the United States as well as its state-of-the-art design and the fact that it even had running water and central heating before the White House. It is said to have been the first ever penitentiary, ultimately known as the Pennsylvania System.
History of Eastern State Penitentiary
The Pennsylvania legislature approved the building of the Eastern State Penitentiary in 1821 after many years of lobbying from the then named Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons. The group was founded by Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the declaration of independence, physician and politician. Rush was strongly against capital punishment and influenced the Pennsylvania legislature to abolish it for most crimes, although the punishment was kept in place for 1st degree murder.
The group also included Benjamin Franklin and still exists to this day under the name of the Pennsylvania Prison Society.
Rush lobbied instead for the usage of solitary confinement, prison labour and religious instruction as a way to bring penitence to those who commit crimes and these practices were first trialed in Walnut Street Prison, considered to be the first ever practice of penitentiary and a prison that was built to relieve overcrowding and terrible conditions in other public prisons. The practice became known as the Pennsylvania System.
After the state legislature put the go-ahead for the Eastern State Penitentiary’s construction of which would hold 250 inmates, the British architect John Haviland won its commission and would also end up overseeing its construction as well.
The prison’s design stressed absolute solitary confinement even including individual exercise yards. Feed doors were also put into cells to have as minimal contact with prison guards as possible and masks were even made to keep inmates from communicating with each other on any rare trips outside of their cells and any prison labor was also solitary. Cells only had a sky light, for the purpose of reading the Bible (which many inmates were unable to do anyway as most could not read during this time), and no windows.
The prison was opened on 25th October 1829 and its first prisoner was a burglar called Charles Williams and the first prison Warden was Samuel R. Wood. Construction work on the last original prison block concluded in 1831 and construction on more prison blocks begun, including two story blocks, to help meet demand for the penitentiary’s increasing inmate population. Eastern State also received its first female prisoner in 1831 as well.
The prison’s first escape took place in 1832 after an inmate labouring as the Warden’s waiter lowered himself from the roof of the front building, he was eventually captured but escaped in the same way again in 1837, but was again recaptured.
In 1834 there are investigations into the prisons finances, punishment procedures as well as deviations from the solitary confinement system of punishment. The original prison construction is finished in 1836 with the complex covering 11 acres and includes plumbing, sewage systems and 450 cells that have central heating, with the prison being seen as state-of-the-art.
At this point tourists are even travelling to marvel at the penitentiary, which as of this time is 1-mile outside of Philadelphia as the city had not yet expanded around the prison. Charles Dickens, the famous English writer, visits the Eastern State Penitentiary himself in 1842 and later writes about solitary confinement being cruel and wrong. Tourism reaches a peak in 1858 (that is until public tours open in 1994).
In 1877 there are four new cell blocks constructed between existing cell blocks and the new cell blocks are not given exercise yards. Cellblock 12, which is completed in 1911 deviates from the other cell blocks in that the cells were given a narrow window instead of a sky light, the cell block had three floors and were constructed of lighter coloured reinforced concrete, the entire block had 120 cells, 40 per floor.
The system of solitary confinement, having broken down since 1866, was finally officially abandoned at Eastern State Penitentiary in 1913. In 1923 female inmates were moved out of the prison and in July of that year an inmate called Leo Callahan and five accomplices mount an escape, all armed with pistols which were used to hold up guards as the inmates scaled the walls. Leo Callahan is the only prisoner of over one-hundred escapees over a 142-year period to not be recaptured.
In early 1924 conditions in the prison were further relaxed by the introduction of group dining halls and tablecloths were allowed on Sunday’s and also holiday periods and decorations were also put up during holiday periods as a way to build morale.
In 1926 construction begins on yet another cell block, this one also three-story’s and of which now means that cell blocks have almost no space left between them and the penitentiary that was originally made to hold 250 inmates could now hold up to 1,700.
Despite some improvements in prison conditions at Eastern State, many inmates were still dissatisfied with recreational facilities, overcrowding and idleness and in 1933 these tensions led to rioting in the prison with inmates setting fires in their cells and destroying workshops. There is yet another riot the following year over low wages and inmates started fires, short-circuited electrical outlets and more before the riots were put down with a strong showing of force.
In 1945 the Pennsylvania legislature recommends abandoning the Eastern State Penitentiary. The prison is designated as a historic building in 1958 and in 1961 cell blocks are desegregated.
The largest riot in the prison’s history takes place in 1961 after inmate John Klausenberg tricks a prison guard into opening the cell of another inmate, the guard is overpowered. It takes a large force of police, guards and state troopers to reclaim the prison after several hours and the aftermath of the riots leads to further discussions of closing the prison.
The prison is designated a National Historical Landmark in 1965 and then in 1970 Eastern State Penitentiary is closed and totally abandoned by the mid-1980s. First limited group tours of the site begun in 1988 and from 1994 Eastern State Penitentiary opens for historic daily tours. Over the years the prison is renovated and has exhibits added to it and further opened up to the public as well as haunted tours being held.
Originally the prison was in such a state of disrepair that tourists had to sign waivers for any possible injury they may accidentally incur on the site, but the prison has since been renovated to a point where tourists no longer have to sign waivers as risk of injury is dramatically decreased.
I would like to thank the official Eastern State Penitentiary website for helping with this information with what was provided on their website.
The Big Kahunas
The Eastern State Penitentiary is perhaps the 2nd most infamous prison in the United States after Alcatraz (which is also considered to be very haunted) and with such infamy it naturally came with a host of infamous criminals and players over its many years of operation and so here, we shall go over a number of these Big Kahunas.
Al Capone
Perhaps the most infamous and well-known is Alphonse Gabriel Capone, also nicknamed Scarface (which was due to being slashed across the face with a knife after inadvertently insulting a woman while working as a bouncer/bartender) and better known as Al Capone. He became involved in New York gangs before moving to Chicago and becoming involved in the Chicago Outfit, serving as Johnny Torrio’s right-hand man before later becoming the gang’s crime boss.
Al Capone took part in bootlegging, prostitution, gambling and racketeering among other organised crime and has been blamed for as many as 33 deaths, including the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre where seven members and associates of Chicago’s North Side Gang were gunned down in cold blood in firing squad fashion and in broad daylight.
Although what brought Capone to prison in the end was being caught carrying a concealed weapon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he was then sentenced to a year in prison, served in Eastern State Penitentiary, although by this point the strict solitary system at the prison had long since broken down and not only that but Capone’s cell included many luxuries not afforded to other prisoners and so Al Capone’s time at that prison was fairly relaxed… or so you may think.
Capone became convinced he was being terrorized by spirits, one of whom he would refer to as “Jimmy” yelling out for Jimmy to leave him alone. The name Jimmy has often been connected to the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre as one of the victims was called James “Jimmy” Clark, merely a low-level mobster and also brother-in-law to Capone’s arch rival Bugs. It would appear that whoever Jimmy was would follow Capone to Alcatraz as well. Was it merely madness or an actual vengeful spirit? Some have pointed out that late-stage syphilis (he had contracted the disease back in Chicago from sampling prostitutes and was perhaps too ashamed to get treatment) that he had could be the reason for the outbursts, due to insanity caused by the disease infecting the brain.
Victor Andreoli
Andreoli was sent to Eastern State Penitentiary on a life sentence at the age of 22 in 1937 for 1st degree murder, convicted of killing a state trooper alongside an accomplice. He is one of those to have managed to escape from Eastern State which he apparently did via hiding in a delivery truck in October 1943, with some rumors claiming the driver of the truck had also served time at the prison although this cannot be confirmed.
A reward of $50,000 was offered for his arrest and delivery to the authorities. The escaped convict was later found at a diner in Chester, Pennsylvania where he exchanged a gunshot at officers, but his gun then jammed and Andreoli was killed by return fire.
According to a newspaper clipping from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Andreoli’s life of crime begun when he wanted to impress a girl but didn’t have the money to go back and see her, which led to Andreoli being convinced to get money the “easy way”, and thus several holdups and robberies were perpetrated by Andreoli and an accomplice called Horace Bowers, a prisoner on parole who convinced Andreoli into the crime spree.
Their robberies also included temporarily kidnapping two men and after a round of successful holdups it all ended with a final robbery at a place called the Boulevard Inn near Wilkes-Barre where State Trooper John J. Broske was shot dead, who coincidentally was there investigating another murder. This murder eventually led to their arrest and life imprisonment.
Morris Bolber
Nicknamed “The Rabbi”, Morris Bolber was part of a syndicate in Philadelphia that approached women in unhappy or failing marriages who were willing to kill their husbands to collect on their husbands’ insurance policies, it is suggested some may even have been tricked into killing their husbands’. Bolber was a high-ranking member of the group, which methods included arsenic as well as other ways of murder. The plan had been conceived by Bolber and Paul Petrillo.
From the years 1932 to 1937 they were responsible for at least 30 deaths (some saying even as many as 50) in the insurance policy scams but outside of this there were many more deaths attributed to the main leaders and Bolber was one of those convicted and sentenced to life at Eastern State. Bolber’s favourite methods were said to be poison, blows to the head with a sandbag and producing cerebral hemorrhage.
William Francis Sutton Jr.
Willie Sutton, also nicknamed Slick Willie, was an infamous bank robber, having robbed numerous banks successfully during his criminal career which spanned four decades with him having robbed an estimated $2 million dollars.
He had been convicted and sentenced to prison on numerous occasions and had also escaped on a number of occasions as well, including from Eastern State Penitentiary via an underground tunnel along with eleven other inmates, but was very quickly recaptured. Willie Sutton was sentenced to 25-50 years in Eastern State Penitentiary for machine gun robbery of the Corn Exchange Bank after being arrested in February 1934 but only served eleven of those years there as he was then transferred to Philadelphia County Prison on a life sentence. Despite being a mastermind of robbery, it is said that Slick Willie never intended to hurt anyone in his schemes.
The Dark Side of Eastern State Penitentiary
Now let’s go over the dark side of Eastern State Penitentiary which may give us some clues as to why the former prison might be considered or even be haunted. Being that it is a prison it is clear that many heinous and terrible criminals were locked up here, many of whom that had committed murders. Some believe that alone can attract dark forces to a place where such a concentration of bad people was housed, but even aside from that there have been murders even within the prison, as happens in many such places due to rivalries, in-house organised crime and unrest. On top of all the violence and murder that has taken place in the prison there were also many suicides as well.
There were also many torturous punishments for prisoners who misbehaved in the prison during various points of its operations and history, despite the system meaning to keep contact between prison staff and inmates as rare as possible, the prison guards were said to often abuse and torture inmates. Such horrific torture and restraint techniques included inmates having their tongues chained to an iron gag which was attached to the inmate’s hands which were tied behind their backs, any struggling would tear and damage the tongue and mouth, there is one recorded incident where an inmate died from the iron gag.
Another technique practiced was dipping inmates in water during the coldest months and then hanging them on the wall outside until ice begun forming on their skin. Other inmates who caused trouble would be strapped to leather chairs, possibly for days on end without being released and not to mention that the straps were often so tight that blood circulation to limbs would be cut off, leading to permanent injury with rumors of amputation having to be performed. A part of the prison was known as “The Hole” which was completely solitary, with no light and inmates who misbehaved could be taken there and left for a month or longer, naturally it was in Cell Block 13, inmates here also got no exercise, didn’t have a toilet and little food.
Of course, the whole original point of the prison was to be completely solitary until such measures were relaxed in more modern times. The practice of locking people up in solitary cells with very little light or anything else to do but to think was mentally degrading and torturous in and of itself. Prisoners were only allowed out for exercise in their solitary yards for one hour per day and even then, they would have sacks put over their heads to prevent any kind of communication and also not enabling them to see the layout of the prison.
No contact or knowledge with the outside world was allowed under any circumstances, including no letters, no family visits and no newspapers – whatever happened outside of their solitary cells was not known to these inmates. They were completely in the dark both physically and mentally for every single day of their time at this prison.
Even after solitary confinement was phased out from 1866 and officially ended in 1913, new problems arose, such as the overcrowding of prison cells originally only meant to hold one person having as many as three inmates and such strained conditions led to unrest, rioting and damage to cells and the prison. Such high energy and emotional activity can be another source for a haunting.
Like many prisons, Eastern State Penitentiary kept a ledger that recorded deaths that occurred at the prison, with their being over 1,000 recorded deaths there. Many such deaths were from sickness and disease, such as tuberculosis, death from pestilence can certainly be another reason for a haunting as having such illnesses in the conditions that a prison like Eastern State offers would likely be a horrible experience.
Other deaths as already mentioned came from suicide and murder. One such murder happened in cell block 8 within cell 49 when inmate Joseph Havel stabbed his cellmate George Kopp to death with a pair of scissors. Due to this many believe the cell is haunted by Kopp.
Eastern State Penitentiary also has many artifacts that have been kept at the prison for historical value, such objects even includes weapons that were hidden by former inmates of the prison as well as crafts made by inmates in workshops and such objects many believe can have an attachment from a spiritual force or of a person who has since died being connected to the object. It is also speculated that not all hidden inmate weapons have even been found and are still in the original place that an inmate long ago hid it.
In an interesting account I found in a philly.metro article on the prison haunting, it talked about how one of the staff who worked at the prison as an actor talked about a visitor that had mailed back a bolt they took from the prison, regretting they took it and pleading for them to put it back exactly where it was taken from, complaining of immense bad luck since having it in their possession. Could it have merely been coincidence? Perhaps the person was already superstitious or paranoid on such spiritual stuff and so in that regard seemed to notice more unlucky things than otherwise, or perhaps the spiritual misfortune was real?
There has been some fringe documentation that removing these objects from the haunted place in question can decrease or even completely eliminate activity and so it can certainly be considered that a number of these objects could be adding to a possible haunting at the site, one such program I recommend watching on this is called Haunted Collector.
But also think in such extreme cases as the Eastern State Penitentiary and its long years of emotional energy and mentally/physically challenging conditions can really ingrain any such spiritual energy into the building and grounds itself, so even if theoretically every object was removed there would still perhaps be some kind of residual haunting leftover.
The Haunting of Eastern State Penitentiary
The reports of ghostly and paranormal activity of an unexplained nature is expansive and vast. Each Cell Block has been known for varying activity. For example, many have reported disembodied whispers that echo through Cell Block 12 as well as uncanny cackling, this cell block is claimed by some to be one of the most active haunted spots in the prison. Accounts from actor staff at the prison on a philly.metro article have claimed to feel very uncomfortable working in the block and have even claimed terrifying encounters with a female apparition that screamed at them.
Fast moving shadowy figures have been reported in Cell Block 6 and people have reported seeing apparitions of faces in Cell Block 4, with there having been one reported scary incident in that block from the early 1990s from a worker called Gary Johnson who claims a powerful force gripped him and made it impossible to move and there was a negative and horrible energy about and faces of torment appearing on the walls, with one even calling to him.
Cell block 15, which was for maximum security inmates is said to be another actively haunted block, with reports of disembodied whispering and sightings of a dark shadow figure running about the block.
Much more has also been reported across the prison from unexplained wailing and footsteps as well as countless apparitions. Many paranormal investigators and programs have claimed to capture proof of voices they have picked up on special equipment called EVPs – electronic voice phenomena, which operates on a frequency that supposedly is able to pick up the voices of ghosts that most the time we are unable to hear with our own ears.
As is common in many places that are said to be haunted is the experience of feeling sick or queasy or an unexplained change in emotions such as feeling deep sadness or anger, sometimes believed to be the influence of darker entities, but possibly also some kind of residual influence of an emotional event that had once taken place.
Conclusion
Eastern State Penitentiary has a long history of brutal isolation, torturous abuse of inmates and a fairly violent and troubled history and I think we can conclude that the original intent and purpose of the prison didn’t work out, but it did help other prisons to evolve to more modern systems and helped shape designs of prisons the world over.
With its dark history it is no surprise that many would consider it haunted and much possible evidence has been offered up from paranormal investigators, paranormal shows and visitor accounts. In the rise in popularity in the world of the paranormal from the general public it can also be a big selling point.
Of course, we also have to consider that some stuff that is captured or experienced may simply have a natural source, Eastern State Penitentiary is old and large, echoes can create strange and eerie sounds and outside interference can also startle. Noise in such a large place can play a trick on the mind and the darkness of areas can also cause illusion, especially if someone has come to expect something or anticipate possible paranormal activity, the mind can easily be fooled or even create its own fantasy.
Some may also say that the accounts from actor staff who work on the haunted attraction “Terror Behind the Walls” can merely be faked or exaggerated accounts in an attempt to attract paranormal enthusiasts to the prison in hopes of having their own encounter.
That doesn’t mean though that everything can be explained or isn’t true as not everything that has been caught or witnessed can be fully put down to one explainable phenomena or occurrence. There are certainly accounts and evidence that can make one think deeper. It can be uncomfortable to think that not everything is as it seems.
If the world of the paranormal is a reality I have no doubt that the prison would certainly be haunted and if the theories on residual hauntings actually exist then it is without doubt that Eastern State Penitentiary would be a strong candidate for such phenomena.
Bibliography
https://www.easternstate.org/research/history-eastern-state/timeline
https://web.archive.org/web/20110610051840/http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/1700s/rush_benj.html – Benjamin Rush biography (archived from original).
http://presspubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendVIIIs16.html – Benjamin Rush opposition to capital punishment.
https://web.archive.org/web/20131104161021/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/scarface_4.html – Al Capone – Scarface.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/infectious-disease-sprung-al-capone-alcatraz – Al Capone – Syphilis
https://www.alcatrazhistory.com/cap1.htm – Al Capone
https://medium.com/omgfacts/al-capone-was-haunted-by-the-ghost-of-a-man-he-killed-2e48c65fc72e – Al Capone – Haunted?
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/19967748/19431107-mothers-burden-lifted/ – Victor Andreoli
books.google.co.uk/books?id=vOksh31rBSAC&pg=PA98&lpg=PA98&dq=victor+andreoli&source=bl&ots=EVs1vRfQLB&sig=ACfU3U0hwFd9yRT2dj75QGnFOff_sqDRtw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjN9Z_liobqAhUQcBQKHYxKBoIQ6AEwF3oECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=victor%20andreoli&f=false – Victor Andreoli Eastern State.
https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/bolbermorris1.htm – Philadelphia murder ring (Morris Bolber).
https://www.easternstate.org/notable-inmates – notable inmates
The Captive Spirits of Eastern State Penitentiary – Buzzfeed Multiplayer – Youtube (info on torture)
https://www.easternstate.org/sites/easternstate/files/inline-files/ESP_PopUpMuseumHandout-forweb.pdf PDF on Eastern State Penitentiary objects.
https://philly.metro.us/is-eastern-state-penitentiary-really-haunted/ – Paranormal accounts.
https://www.npr.org/2013/10/24/232234570/is-eastern-state-penitentiary-really-haunted?t=1592296042156 – Paranormal accounts
I hope you enjoyed this first edition of Haunted Files, there are four more editions yet to come with one released each week. It is the largest project I have worked on yet and there is a similar project that will also be releasing soon with 5 editions some point after the conclusion of the Mysterious States series that is currently ongoing.
These kinds of posts are really what I envisioned this blog featuring but they do take some time and dedication to create as well as much fact as is possible with clear sources for my information. Of course, though even with sources things may still not be entirely as presented, sometimes sources themselves can also be wrong or exaggerated. That being said it would be appreciated if those who read this could spread it far and wide to as many people as possible.
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