Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Eastern State in Ruin
The last City employees left Eastern State in 1971, and they did not expect anyone to use the building again. With very few exceptions, nobody entered the property for the next twenty years.
When city planners, real estate developers and preservationists began to explore the penitentiary in the 1980s, they found a thick jungle filling every outdoor space (and, in many cases, indoor spaces), a colony of stray cats, and an eerie sense that time had stopped behind these walls.
Sally Elk remembers those visits.
[Captions:]
View from Eastern State's center guard tower, c. 1987. Photo: Courtesy of David Cornelius.
The jungle of trees is removed from Eastern State Penitentiary in 1991. Photo: Courtesy of Sally Elk.
Proposal to transform Eastern State Penitentiary into a shopping mall, 1980s. There were several reuse proposals in the 1980s, including proposed condominiums and houses. None were realized. Photo: Collection of Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site.
Visitors entering Eastern State Penitentiary during the early tour years found collapsing walls, abandoned vehicles and lots of vegetation. All visitors wore hard hats until 2003, and signed liability waivers until 2008.
Erected by Eastern
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Law Enforcement • Notable Buildings. A significant historical year for this entry is 1971.
Location. 39° 58.123′ N, 75° 10.348′ W. Marker is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia County. It is in Eastern State Penitentiary. It can be reached from Fairmount Avenue west of Corinthian Avenue, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2027 Fairmount Ave, Philadelphia PA 19130, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southeast Pennsylvania. It is also in the American Northeast and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, New Netherland, and one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Sports at ESP (here, next to this marker); Morgue (within shouting distance of this marker); Notable Inmate: Clarence Klinedinst (within shouting distance of this marker); Solitary Exercise Yard (within shouting distance of this marker); A Prison Calisthenic Class (within shouting distance of this marker); The Big Graph (within shouting distance of this marker); The United States no longer has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. (within shouting distance of this marker); Incinerator (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Philadelphia.
Another marker is no longer nearby. 2020 Rate of Incarceration (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Credits. This page was last revised on February 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 26, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 228 times since then and 9 times this year. Last updated on March 26, 2022, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photo 1. submitted on March 26, 2022, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
