The Prison 500 Feet From My House

I walk past Eastern State Penitentiary on runs and do box jumps against its wall, but the only times I have been inside were the $50 haunted houses.

The rough stone exterior wall of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia

In Fairmount, about 500 feet from where my house is, there is a giant prison complex: the Eastern State Penitentiary. I walk or run by it all the time. My running club meets in front of it, and while warming up for runs, I do box jumps or declined pushups off its stone wall.

To be honest, I've never actually been inside, except for the haunted houses they run during Halloween (which, as I've mentioned before, I absolutely love). But I've read some of the signs, which basically say it was established as America's first humane penitentiary, designed to rehabilitate criminals rather than just lock them up as society's irredeemables. I think Al Capone and a few other big names spent some time there.

My knowledge of the inside is admittedly pretty limited despite living so close. I couldn't even tell you whether it's free to visit or it costs money (the haunted houses run about $50 per person). But in wandering around during the haunted house events, you do get a sense of the space. It has tiny jail cells (not surprising), but it also has these giant courtyards for prisoners to work out in, part of the revolutionary rehabilitative approach.

Also, quite randomly and not part of the penitentiary itself: on the opposite side of the building's main entrance (which faces south on Fairmount Ave), there's an amazing 24/7 playground and dog park, owned and run by a random nonprofit that maintains the entire north side of the penitentiary. You'll see babies doing soccer shots, most silly activity ever in my opinion - paying $200 so your 18-month-old can run around randomly, which you can do for free. On the east side of the penitentiary there's a community garden where you can get a plot if you live nearby and wait long enough.

And finally, on the west side, there's a giant faceless wall spanning about 3 city blocks, reminding you that, well, this is in fact a prison. An austere, silent, forbidding citadel to punish, contain, and rehabilitate criminals. The stone wall screams its purpose voicelessly.