Eastern State Penitentiary is considered to be the world’s first penitentiary prison, built in 1822 near Philadelphia, PA. Today, we explore its eerie design and history.

In the early 1800s, a penal code debate raged across the United States, and at its core was the same question that we still wrestle with today: punishment or rehabilitation? The state of Pennsylvania was one of the earliest in advocating for rehabilitation-based reform using separate incarceration. Though the method was experimental, Eastern State Penitentiary (then called Cherry Hill Prison) was opened on October 25^th, 1829, for male inmates only.

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