Ghosts of Eastern State Penitentiary

Built in 1829 by the Quakers of Philadelphia, Eastern State Penitentiary was the first of it's kind.  Designed to keep prisoners isolated so they they could pay "penitence" for their sins, it gave birth to the word "penitentiary".  It was designed like a wagon wheel so that monitoring of the prisoners could be done from the center or hub where the guards were stationed.  The cell blocks sprawled outward from the central hub which housed the prisoners.  Giving the world's prisons this design, it failed in it's initial purpose of reforming the prisoners using isolation, but drove most of them mad.  Each having only a tiny window of light shining down from above.  Many of the tormented souls that spent their lives there and died there still remain.

Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia has many spirits that lurk among it's corridors and cell blocks

Eastern State has been one of the most studied paranormal sites around as it is deemed one of the most haunted places in the world by many.  It has been investigated by many of the well known paranormal teams and featured on many shows such as Ghost Hunters, Fear, Ghost Adventures, and Mysterious Worlds.  Many of the paranormal activities that go on here were captured by these teams and/or the investigators themselves.  Many staff members refuse to stay there overnight.

A Torrid History

Although the Quakers are a peaceful, religious people, when Eastern State was at the height of it's operations, the hired help were not so kind.  It is told that many forms of torture were used on the prisoners at times.  When a prisoner was not co-operating, sometimes they would be thrown into solitary confinement for weeks at at time in a place known as "the hole" which was literally a hole dug out under cell block 14.  Occasionally prisoners would be given what is known as a 'water bath' where in the Winter, they were totally submerged in water, then hung up and chained.  They would be found in the morning with a layer of ice on their skin. 

An overview of the wheel shaped cell blocks of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia

Some prisoners would be driven insane from conditions and some of the punishments such as "the hole".  They would be placed in something called "The Mad Chair" where they would be strapped in extremely tightly and be denied food for days.  And finally some prisoners actually met their death via something called "The Iron Gag".  If a prisoner talked too much or would scream incessantly, they would be subjected to this device which was clamped to their tongues and the attached behind their backs to their hands and feet so that if they moved, the clamp would dig into their tongue.  Many bled to death via this device.

The prison was originally designed to hold 250 prisoners in 1829 when it was constructed.  Around the time of it's closure in 1971, it held over 1700 prisoners.  Overcrowded conditions also contributed to the miserable state of the inmates within Eastern State's confines.

So many of these tortured souls still roam within the prison walls.  Many of which are phantoms of the worse kind in that they are shadow figures.  These forms of spirits are believed to be of evil intent.  This makes sense considering where they have manifested and came to be.

Al Capone' Cell

In 1929, gangster Al Capone spent some time at Eastern State in cell block 7.  It is not known to be haunted by him however, Al Capone actually claimed to have been haunted during his stay there by St. Valentine’s Day Massacre victim James Clark.  He complained about being haunted by Clark's spirit nightly and that it would not go away.

Cell block 7 at Eastern State Penitentiary is where Al Capone was haunted by spirits of his past

Cell Block 4

A locksmith was working on an old lock and was having trouble when he suddenly was overcome by something he could not explain.  As if in a paralyzed state, he felt to be almost out of his body as he was having visions of distorted faces appearing on the cell walls.

The Haunted Guard Tower

It is said that the shadowy figure of a phantom prison guard can be seen keeping watch over the prison from one of the towers on occasion.  No one knows who it may be or what his history is at Eastern State, but for some reason he has chosen to keep watch over the prison walls.  Or maybe he does not have a choice in the matter.

Death Row

Although no executions were ever carried out at Eastern State Penitentiary, death row served as a transfer area where prisoners would spend their days until they were transferred to another prison to be executed.  Over the years, it has been reported that shadow figures have been seen in this area.  Also, spirits have thought have been heard crying or weeping.

Cell Block 12

Reported to be one of the most haunted areas of the prison, many have seen shadow figures moving about, passing from cell to cell as if trying to not be detected.  Sounds of laughter and sometimes ethereal whispers can be heard echoing within the walls and cells of this block.

Actual apparitions have been seen walking about this area of Eastern State Penitentiary.  Believed to be actual visitors, then it is learned that no other person other than the witness was in the area at the time.

Eastern State Penitentiary is open as a tourist attraction today.  Historical tours are given on a regular basis daily.  Haunted ghost tours are given in the yearly October feature called Terror Behind the Walls. 

The layout of the wheel shaped cell blocks of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia

You can take an interactive on-line tour of Eastern State by using this link (http://www.easternstate.org/explore/online-360-tour).

Eastern State Penitentiary is located at
22nd Street & Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:

http://www.easternstate.org
crime.about.com

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (Weston Hospital) - Weston, West Virginia

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum has seen a long history and some of it not so pleasant.  Some people who have visited the hospital claim that there are patients who have never left.

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum or Weston Hospital is located in Weston, West Virginia and is host to many ghosts

Construction began on the Weston Hospital in 1858.  The original design was to extend sprawling wings to the main structure to allow maximum exposure of light and air circulation to better suit the patients.  However, when the Civil War broke out in 1861, construction on the hospital halted.  Union troops from Ohio led by Colonel Erastus Bernard Tyler then took over the partially finished structure and used it as a fortification to control the area around Weston.  The structure and grounds then became known as Camp Tyler.

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia

The building actually opened to patients as a state hospital shortly before he end of the Civil War in 1864. The structure was fully completed in 1881.  However, even upon it's completion it was over it's original capacity of 250 by about three times that amount.  This number would grow tremendously over the next decade.  In addition to the overcrowded conditions, allegedly some barbaric treatment of some of the hospital's residents by today's standards made it a horrible place to be.  Untrained physicians used unorthodox treatments such as electrode-shock and leaching to try and "cure" the patients.  One of these doctors in particular liked to do lobotomies and reported to have performed thousands of them.  Needless to say, many of the patients who entered the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, never made it out...  alive.

The gates to Weston State Hospital as it was once known

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum changed to the Weston State Hospital in 1913.  However, even more over crowded at over 1300 patients the conditions and treatment for those interned there were still deplorable.  These conditions continued through most of the century.  Eventually, the hospital was closed in 1994 when it's occupancy had reached 2500 patients.  The town of Weston took a huge economic hit with the closing of the hospital.

An interior shot of Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia

Today the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is known to be crawling with ghosts and is a center for paranormal activity.  Many hear disembodied voices, laughing, footsteps, sobbing, and eerie screams.  Shadow figures have been spotted in some of the hallways and rooms as well as plasma orbs and unexplained mist.  Some claim to have seen full bodied apparitions of what appeared to be patients moving in and out of the walls of the asylum.  The building has been investigated by many paranormal research teams and EVP recordings of voices speaking from beyond have been captured with in the old hospital.  It is also said that the ghost of a young girl who was born in the hospital as her mother was a patient there, still roams the corridors.

The sprawling Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia was laid out for maximum sunlight and air circulation for the patients

The hospital is today known as the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum and is open to the public from March through October.  Historic tours as well as ghost tours are available for visitors to get a first hand look at the haunted asylum.

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
71 Asylum Drive
Weston, West Virginia 26452

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