The Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) is a defunct American prison located near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located at 2027 Fairmount Avenue, between Corinthian Avenue and North 22nd Street in the city’s Fairmount neighborhood, and was in use from 1829 to 1971. The penitentiary perfected the innovative concept of separate detention pioneered at the Walnut Street Jail, which prioritized rehabilitative principles over punishment. Its ingenious wagon wheel design housed notorious criminals such as Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton. James Bruno and several male relatives were imprisoned here between 1936 and 1948 for alleged murders in the 1934 Kelayres massacre before being paroled.

When it was finished, it was the largest and most expensive public edifice ever built in the United States, and it immediately became a model for more than 300 prisons across the world. The prison is now a U.S. National Historic Landmark, and it is open to the public for tours seven days a week, twelve months a year, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can read more about The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in our other post. Philly Locksmith is providing the best services situated in Philadelphia, pa. For more information call us at (267) 433-6636.