Date: June 2008
Time: 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Conditions: Hot and humid.

Background: Eastern State Penitentiary was opened in 1829 (in what was then an area far outside the "urban" area of Philadelphia) with the intention to create penitence in the inmates through solitude and labor (this prison coined the term "penitentiary"). At the time, it was considered state-of-the-art and had running water and flushing toilets before the White House did. It was also unique in it's "wagon-wheel" design - a central hub with cell block "spokes" - which was copied by over 300 prisons around the world. Several famous inmates spent some time here, most notably Al Capone. (You can see his refurbished cell on the tour. To say it looks a bit different than the other cells would be an understatement!)

The prison, originally seven cell blocks, was expanded over the years to fourteen cell blocks. Because of overcrowding and deteriorating conditions, Eastern State Penitentiary was closed in 1971.

Eastern State is a fascinating building, both historically and architecturally. We recommend visiting if you ever get the chance. You can check them out online at their official web site.

Investigation Notes: We visited during normal operating hours during the day, so there were quite a few tourists about throughout the day. Therefore, we did not set up to investigate as we normally would. However, we still had an interesting visit.

• One member of the team heard a tapping noise near the base of a wall while inside one of the cells. The tapping was loud enough that another member of the team who was standing outside the cell could hear it. It should be noted that there was no electricity running through that cell block. And even if there were, it's not like the air conditioning was trying to kick on. (There is no air conditioning - or heating - at the penitentiary. None of the individual cells have electricity unless they are wired for art installations. This cell was not.) The tapping lasted for several seconds.
• In cell block 14 (by the gate next to the outside entrance), our Reiki practitioner member felt a presence with the name of "Dave." We did some EVP work, but were unable to pick up anything on the recorders. (Note: we do not include this as evidence, but is mentioned as a matter of interest.)
• While recording in the death row cell block, one member's video camera blacked out for a moment. This had never previously occurred with the camera, nor has it happened since.

We found the general lack of insects to be somewhat remarkable. We had expected to find the place full of spiders and whatnot, but we had seen only one bug (a fly or something) throughout the entire day.

Evidence:

None

Summary: We were not able to collect any evidence. Despite the lack of evidence, we viewed the trip to Eastern State Penitentiary as interesting and educational. The building itself is extremely photogenic and that, alone, was worth the trip for us. We are considering doing a night investigation here in the future.