A Visit to Eastern State Penitentiary

Eastern State Penitentiary is a huge tourist attraction with a lot of history to it and the Honors Program had the privilege of going on a day trip to Eastern State.  The group arrived in front of the arts and science building in the morning and once roll was taken, the bus departed and we were on our way.

The charter bus pulled up in front of the enormous stone building and I was overwhelmed by the size and architecture of the prison.  Single file we exited the bus and stood in front of the giant castle-like structure.  Finally we were told to split into two groups.  My group was the second to enter the Penitentiary, and our tour guide opened the monstrous gate and led us to a small garden in the front courtyard of the prison.  Here she explained how the prison ran on a separate system in which all the inmates were kept in their own cells and how they did not interact with other inmates.  She elaborated on the difference between a prison and a penitentiary.  She informed us that a penitentiary was based on the religious idea of repenting for ones sins.  Thus, the separate system in which they could reflect on their sins.  As we continued our tour we stopped at a corner.  This corner was where the tour guide explained the radial design of the prison and how from this point there was no blind spot.  This penitentiary was very extravagant for its time; it had heat and running water, which drew people into the prison just for meals and ammenities.  As we continued our tour we entered different cells and saw how tiny they were.  We entered the surveillance hub and saw how effective the radial design was for security.  We went outside and saw the exercise yard and heard about how the inmates would hit baseballs over the wall and the baseballs came back over the wall altered and filled with drugs.  We also saw the guard towers on the corners of the wall because the radial system became obsolete as the prison expanded and got larger within its walls. We were then showed death row and then set free to go explore the prison and get lunch somewhere in the town.

A few of my friends and I traveled the prison saw the second floor cells, and even went into the hole.  We saw the creepy set up for “Terror Behind the Walls” and then decided we had seen enough.  We left the prison turned right and walked down the street until we stumbled upon a small pizza place.  This pizza place was called Luigi’s, and it was such a great cheesesteak.  I ate a chicken cheesesteak that was amazing and Italian soda.  After lunch we wandered around and found a used bookstore that we entered.  We then got ice cream and returned to Eastern State.  We took a group picture in front of Eastern State Penitentiary and then the bus arrived.  We boarded the bus and we departed and everyone took a nice nap after the long day trip we had just finished.