USA Guide
The Mid-Atlantic
Eastern State Penitentiary
The Eastern State Penitentiary is one of Philadelphia's most significant historic sites, which embodies a complete history of attitudes toward crime and punishment in the US. Since it opened in 1829, the Quaker-inspired prison's radical efforts to rehabilitate inmates via isolation and reflection, rather than use physical abuse and capital punishment, attracted curious social commentators from around the world; when Charles Dickens came to America in 1842, he wanted to see two things, this prison and Niagara Falls. After a period of decay following its closure in 1970, the bulk of the Panopticon-style radial prison has been restored. Informative audio tours point out the prison's many novel architectural features, as well as its old synagogue and the upmarket cell where Al Capone cooled his heels.
Address: Fairmount Avenue between 20th and 22nd streets
Opening time: Daily 10am–5pm, last entry 4pm
Price: $12
Telephone: 215/236-3300
Website: www.easternstate.org