Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Solitary Exercise Yard

By Devry Becker Jones (CC0), January 24, 2025

1. Solitary Exercise Yard Marker

Inscription.
These solitary exercise yards once flanked every ground-level cell at Eastern State Penitentiary. Prisoners in the early 1800s received two breaks a day—about every 30 minutes each—alone in these yards. They spent almost all other time in their cells.

Nearly all of the yards were modified or demolished in later years, as the system of isolation slowly fell out of use. This yard survived with all four of its original walls because it was used as a bathroom for the athletic field, directly outside.

Extensive restoration returned the yard to its 1830s appearance.

Erected by Eastern State Penitentiary. (Marker Number 42.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology • Law Enforcement • Parks & Recreational Areas.

Location. 39° 58.148′ 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: The Big Graph (within shouting distance of this marker); The United States no longer has the highest rate of incarceration in the world.

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

(within shouting distance of this marker); Kitchen (within shouting distance of this marker); Morgue (within shouting distance of this marker); Incinerator (within shouting distance of this marker); Sports at ESP (within shouting distance of this marker); Eastern State in Ruin (within shouting distance of this marker); Memories of the Penitentiary Hospital (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).

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), January 24, 2025

2. Solitary Exercise Yard Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on January 26, 2025. It was originally submitted on January 26, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 137 times since then and 14 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 26, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.

Editor’s want-list for this marker. A photo of the inside of the solitary exercise yard. • Can you help?