Eastern State Penitentiary was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, but stands today in ruin, a haunting world of crumbling cell blocks and empty guard towers. Its vaulted, sky-lit cells once held many of America’s most notorious criminals. Most of us might not be aware of the ‘Pennsylvania System’! Well, to explain it, it was a system wherein the prisoners were dumped into solitude and at times, they were left to die in such tragic circumstances. Introduced in 1829 in Philadelphia in the Eastern State Penitentiary prison, the aftermath of this horrific practice has led to several spine-chilling paranormal activities in this prison.

ESP, is a former American prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located at 2027 Fairmount Avenue between Corinthian Avenue and North 22nd Street in the Fairmount section of the city, and was operational from 1829 until 1971. The penitentiary refined the revolutionary system of separate incarceration first pioneered at the Walnut Street Jail which emphasized principles of reform rather than punishment.

Notorious criminals such as Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton were held inside its innovative wagon wheel design. James Bruno (Big Joe) and several male relatives were incarcerated here between 1936 and 1948 for the alleged murders in the Kelayres massacre of 1934, before they were pardoned. At its completion, the building was the largest and most expensive public structure ever erected in the United States,^[ and quickly became a model for more than 300 prisons worldwide.

The prison is currently a U.S. National Historic Landmark, which is open to the public as a museum for tours seven days a week, twelve months a year, 10 am to 5 pm.