My Trip to the Eastern State Penitentiary
jun 14th, 2007
As some of you know, I just came back from a trip to Philly and NYC. I did not send a bulletin about this because my specific purpose for going to NYC was to attend a mini reunion with three newly found friends from my sixth grade class. I was there for only a few days and therefore did not have time to do any other type of socializing. I therefore apologize if some of you would have liked to hook up with me while I was there. I will write another blog about the mini reunion soon, so stay tuned.
One of the highlights of my Philly trip was visiting the Eastern State Penitentiary. It is a fascinating and historic place to visit and many people have reported seeing both shadow and full body apparitions while touring the place. Former inmates and guards have also reported having the same paranormal experiences.
One of the most famous former inmates at this prison was Al Capone. While he was a prisoner there, he sworn the Ghost of a man was haunting him in retaliation for ordering the mob to murder him. Capone would be found in his cell many nights screaming at the man to leave him alone. When the prison guards responded to his screams, they would find no one.
One of the most interesting stories about Al Capone is that this prison treated him as a celebrity while he was there. He actually had a real bed to sleep in, a radio, a desk to write on and a lamp. These were luxuries not available to other inmates. If you visit the prison today, his cell is still furnished the way it was then. You will recognize the picture of Al Capone cell because it will have a red bed spread.
While I was there, I noticed that cell rooms 6 and 12 were only open to special groups. I wondered why that was so. Well, when I got home, I did some research into the matter and found out that most of the sighting reports have occurred in cell rooms 6 and 12, the Death Row area, the Infirmary and the Central Guard tower. It is unfortunate that these rooms were not available to the public because I would have loved to visit the cells and take pictures. I did go the Death row area. Unfortunately, I did not visit the infirmary or the Central guard tower.
I did not see anything out of the ordinary while I was there but it sure was an amazing place to visit. Here is a slide show of the pictures I took. Some of the pictures contain sculptures that local artists from Philly have created and put into the cells.
You can see the pictures on my photobucket account here: (Maybe some of you might see something that I missed.)