After taking this photo of this prison cell, I went into the cell and took it from the opposite direction. When I did that, I closed the door 75% of the way closed. Good thing I didn’t close it completely because it wouldn’t reopen. I almost locked myself in….. that would have been a huge problem.
This is the Maximum-Security wing of an abandoned Pennsylvania prison.
Tonight’s post is another photo from our exploration of an abandoned Pennsylvania prison. Blair and I were given this opportunity last October to check out this place from top to bottom. That was a fun day….. Most people want to avoid prison… Blair and I ran towards it.
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Blair and I had a great morning in prison today. We got an opportunity to explore and photograph an abandoned Pennsylvania prison. They’re getting ready to convert the site into a veteran’s center. I am thankful to Bob for thinking about us and getting us access. Good times…..
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In 1880, Eastern State Penitentiary’s Cell Block 3 was converted into the “Hospital Department” for the prison which included about 20 cells. They tried to take care of all injuries and illness here to avoid transporting an inmate to a local hospital. They had different types of physicians rotate through Cell Block 3 to perform a number of different surgeries, procedures and services. Can you imagine having surgery in this environment??? You can see a picture of the surgery room below. Cell Block 3 was in use for this purpose until the prison closed in 1970.
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Operating Room
I had more time to kill by myself again this weekend, so I
filled it with some photography. Last weekend I toured the Eastern State Penitentiary in
Philadelphia. This weekend, I
toured the West Virginia State Penitentiary in Moundsville WV. This retired, gothic style prison
operated from 1876 to 1995. This
prison had a number of deadly riots and escapes through the years. At its peak it held around 2,300 men,
which like many prisons was more then it was designed to hold. That meant three men to a 5-foot by 7-foot
cell. One guy had to sleep on the
floor. A 1986 ruling by the
State’s Supreme Court sealed the fate of the prison when the court ruled the
small cells were cruel and unusual punishment.
This picture was taken in the maximum-security area of the prison for the most dangerous prisoners. Notice the steel cell doors are even covered with mesh to prevent the prisoners from throwing options and/or assaulting the guards from within their cells. Only a small slot was open to pass food trays inside to the convicts. These men saw less then 30 minutes of daylight per day. But compared to the “Hole”, these cells were like living in luxury.
Maximum Security Area - To purchase a print or view the entire gallery, please click the photo above.
Although from what I learned, the size of the cells was the least of the prisoners concerns. They had no heat in winter and no air conditioning in the summer. The food was so contaminated with rats and cockroaches that inmates rioted in 1986.
This 5' x 7' cell belonged to Red, who was stabbed over 30 times within this space. Prior to his murder here, he was known as the worst prisoner within the facility.
There were 94 men legally executed by hanging and electrocution. In the early years, legal execution was done by hanging and the public could buy a ticket to watch. This was big business/money for the prison. Electrocution was added in 1951 and was used until the State outlawed execution entirely in 1965. Paul Glenn who was an inmate himself built old Sparky, the nickname of the electric chair. Many of the prisoners didn’t like the fact that he built the chair, so the State was forced to transfer him to another prison.
If that wasn’t bad enough, murder within the facility was an on going problem with an estimated 1,000 lives lost within the walls. It was known as a “cons prison”, which meant that they had control and power of the facility. Gang violence was common in the later years, along with torture and murder by guards in the early years. It was weird standing in a number of the spots where the tour guide would describe a violent murder or murders that took place in that specific location as if it was nothing. I wouldn’t call it spooky…more like a sense of being uncomfortable. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that the tour guides all believe the place is haunted and have all experienced super natural events. It was as if you could feel the pain, evil, and torture that seeped out of the place. It wasn’t as interesting as Eastern State Penitentiary from an architectural perspective, but it felt more evil.
"Old Sparky"
I needed to be in the Philadelphia area Monday morning so I
drove over Sunday. That saved me
driving 11 hours (over and back) all in one day. MJ had to work all day anyway, so I left early in the
morning so I could visit the Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP). This is a site I’ve wanted to visit for
some time.
The prison opened in 1829 and was the first true prison built in the world. Prior to this, all prisons where just large holding bays where the inmates were all grouped together (men, women, and children). It was designed to not only punish, but to inspire the criminal toward spiritual reflection and change. Every cell was intended to be solitary confinement. They never wanted the inmate to have contact with another person, including guards during the criminals stay. Inmates were hooded whenever they were outside their cells and exposed to complete silence.
The design and concept was so novel, that more then 300 prisons in South America, Europe, Russia, China, Japan and England were based on this design and operational plan. Toward the end of its use, the old prison needed expensive repairs. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania closed the facility in 1971, 142 years after it accepted Charles Williams (Prisoner #1). The facility sat abandoned for 20 years before the city turned it over to the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site Inc.. Today thousands of visitors tour the site every year as a ruin and historical site.
One of the famous inmates was Al “Scarface” Capone. I may post a picture of his cell at a later day. They have it restored to how it looked when he used it.
You can learn more about this location at: http://www.easternstate.org/home
I took this spooky photo using auto-bracketing to capture 7 exposures. I merged them together in Photomatix Pro to get my base HDR image. Then I edited it in Photoshop CS6 to finish the picture. I’ve seen others post a picture of this room before in the past. Something about that single barber’s chair in this dark room that makes this image feel evil.
One of my photos will be featured on this website today: http://worldisbeautiful.net/photo/2013/6/10/
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