SOURCE: ghostcitytours.com (edited)
The Eastern State Penitentiary sits in the middle of Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood and is considered one of America’s most notorious prisons. According to paranormal experts, it is also considered the most haunted site in Pennsylvania. Today, the massive, decayed historic structure is open for public tours. It also hosts a Halloween attraction; more on that later, but first some of its history.
The Prison and Al Capone
The notorious prison has housed notorious criminals like bank robber Willie Sutton and Chicago gangster Al Capone, who spent eight months locked up there. Apparently, during Capone’s time there, the spirits of the prison were powerful enough to terrify even this most vicious mob boss.
Capone’s criminal network made sure his accommodations at Eastern State Penitentiary were luxurious. His cell could have been mistaken for a cozy living room complete with oil paintings and fine furniture. In spite of living like a king however, an unseen force terrified him at night.
Capone was known for letting out blood-curdling screams in the darkness, begging for someone named “Jimmy” to leave him alone. Many people believe “Jimmy” may have been the spirit of Jimmy Clark, one of the men killed by Capone’s execution orders in the Saint Valentine’s Massacre.
It’s Definitely Haunted
Eastern State Penitentiary is on the bucket list for most paranormal investigation groups. Teams brave enough to search for evidence of paranormal entities don’t ever seem to leave empty-handed.
Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures conducted a paranormal investigation at the prison and captured disembodied voices, shadow figures, and other unexplainable occurrences.
Sci-Fi’s Ghost Hunters revealed what appeared to be the apparition of a man walking through Cell Block 12. And a crew from Travel Channel’s Most Haunted, recorded objects moving on their own. Also, investigators with that production claim to have communicated with multiple spirits.
Reports of Supernatural Experiences
Eastern State Penitentiary officially closed for prisoners in 1971 with so many electrical and mechanical problems it was too expensive to restore. It reopened as a museum in 1994 and people couldn’t stay away. Thousands explore the historic penitentiary every year, and many emerge with their own ghost stories.
Multiple guests claim to have caught a glimpse of a man standing in a guard tower on the property. However, there’s no way to physically get to the top of the tower today because the brick stairs crumbled away years ago.
Other guests, as well as employees claim to hear whispering, giggling, and even weeping while exploring the property. There’s also the apparition of a mysterious woman spotted so often she’s been named The Soap Lady. She sits in the last cell on the second floor where the women’s cellblock used to be.
Halloween Haunted House
In addition to audio-guided walking tours, the penitentiary also hosts a Terror Behind the Walls experience every Halloween. It’s one of the country’s top-ranked haunted attractions. More than 200 performers are part of the show that, according to the museum, is designed to send “even the bravest muscle-heads crying for their mommies.”
If a haunted attraction in a haunted prison isn’t creepy enough for you, it doesn’t have to end there. You can sign up for a special mark that lets performers know you’ve agreed to be grabbed, held back, or taken into hidden passageways.
For information: https://www.easternstate.org/
