The Eastern State Penitentiary sits in the middle of Philadelphia's Fairmount neighborhood. The decaying castle-like structure is one of America's most notorious prisons and considered the most haunted site in Pennsylvania.


Today, the massive historic structure is open for public tours and hosts a Halloween Haunted House attraction. Is this old prison truly a paranormal hotspot?


Fast Facts
When it was built, the Eastern State Penitentiary was one of the most expensive buildings in the United States. Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures conducted a paranormal investigation at the prison and captured disembodied voices, shadow figures, and other unexplainable occurrences. Notorious criminals like Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton did time at Eastern State Penitentiary. Is Eastern State Penitentiary 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.


Sci-Fi's Ghost Hunters revealed what appeared to be the apparition of a man walking through Cell Block 12.


A crew for Travel Channel's Most Haunted, recorded objects moving on their own. Investigators with the production claim to have communicated with multiple spirits.


Tour Guides and Guests Experience Supernatural Activity When the aging prison opened for tours, people couldn't stay away. It's located in the middle of Fairmont Street in Philadelphia and has become one of the most-visited tourist destinations in Pennsylvania.


Thousands of people explore the historic penitentiary every year, and several emerge with their own ghost stories.


Guests claim to get 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. The brick stairs crumbled away years ago.


Other employees and tourists hear whispering, giggling, and even weeping while exploring the property. When they investigate where the noises are coming from, they never find the source.


The apparition of a mysterious woman is spotted so often that employees have named her The Soap Lady. She sits in the last cell on the second floor wearing white. The second floor held the women's cellblock when the prison was operational.


Solitary Confinement in Eastern State Penitentiary


On paper, the accommodations inside the first cell blocks were lavish. When the penitentiary opened in 1829, the building had more amenities than the White House.


Each prisoner had their own cell that was centrally heated with running water and a flushing toilet. The prison was immaculately clean.


But this was no Marriott.


The goal was to force isolation so the prisoners could truly think about what they had done and fill their hearts with penitence. The Quakers thought any unnecessary contact could derail the rehabilitation process.


To make sure that didn't happen, they created masks to put over prisoners' heads so they wouldn't be able to communicate with or see any of their fellow inmates.


Their rooms were fitted with feed doors so they could eat their three square meals a day in total isolation. Guards wore fabric over their shoes so prisoners wouldn't hear their footsteps.


Prisoners weren't allowed to speak.


They sat in complete silence for most of the day. The only book they could read was the Bible. The only light in their cells came from an Eye of God skylight above. Letters from home and visitors were not allowed.


If prisoners tried to tap on pipes or whisper to each other through vents the consequences were severe.


Punishment at Eastern State Penitentiary


The Iron Gag


Walter Gresham, sitting in his library in Gresham's Palace


Courtesy Eastern State Penitentiary, gift of the family of John D. Shearer Let's say you're a few months into your sentence in 1834 and you can't bear keeping your mouth shut a moment longer. That's how inmate Mathias Maccumsey may have felt in 1833.


While he was serving time for manslaughter, Maccumsey tried to talk to his neighbor. When he got caught by guards, they slapped the Iron Gag on him.


To do this, they bound and shackled his hands behind his back. They put an iron casted gag over his tongue. The gag was attached by chains to the shackles on his wrists. Then they left him. One hour later he was found dead in his cell.


What happened? Well, apparently the Iron Collar ripped up his tongue. Maccumsey bled to death.


The Mad Chair


Early Philadelphia doctors believed mental illness spread through the body through circulation.


They thought they could cure insanity by simply making sure blood couldn't pump through the body. The best way to do this? Restricting all movement.


The Mad Chair was created so inmates could be strapped in so tightly it was literally impossible to move a muscle. They would be forced to sit in this chair for days without food.


Restricting the blood flow inevitably caused damage to the body, and inmates often needed limbs amputated after spending time in the Mad Chair.


The Water Bath


If you broke the rules during the winter season, you could be subjected to another horrific punishment.


A guard would dunk your head in ice-cold water, then hang you on a wall all night.


The frigid air would cause your skin to ice over before morning and many didn't make it through.