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Welcome to "Philadelphia's Most Historic Site" Eastern
State Penitentiary
Eastern State Penitentiary is located in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, the fifth largest city in the United States. Philadelphia
is home to many historic sites and destinations including Independence
Hall & Liberty Bell, Elfreth's Alley, and the Betsy Ross House &
Memorial. In fact, there is more history in one eight-block area
of Philadelphia than in any other city in the United States. However,
many visitors and Philadelphians are unaware of one of the city's most
historic and influential structures -- Eastern State Penitentiary.
Today, as a tourist attraction, Eastern State Penitentiary is now regaining
some of the fame it once held as a revolutionary prison.
Eastern State Penitentiary, which is located only
four blocks from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, has been called Philadelphia's
"most historic site" by Philadelphia Weekly. In 1822, construction
began on Eastern State Penitentiary's massive walls and soon became the
biggest building project of the day and the most expensive building in
the United States. Eastern State's radical new prison philosophy
based on the idea that isolation would promote penitence and lead to rehabilitation
soon gained world wide interest. People from around the world, including
famous author Charles Dickens, traveled to Philadelphia to tour this new
"penitentiary." Eastern State Penitentiary's radial floor plan
and revolutionary prison philosophy influenced, depending on the source,
anywhere from 300 to 500 prisons world wide, some of which were built as
late as the 1960's even after Eastern State Penitentiary abandoned the
system named for it.
Although Eastern State Penitentiary was closed
in 1971, today, Eastern State continues to educate the thousands of tourists
that enter its massive walls every year, not only about the penitentiary's
history, but also its implications on the prison system as we know it today.
For more information about Eastern State Penitentiary
or to find out how to take a tour, please visit Eastern
State Penitentiary's Official Web Page.
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