Eerie photos reveal crumbling haunted remains of gangster Al Capone’s prison cell and jail’s so-called ‘mad chair’ once used to restrain inmates
The prison closed in 1971 and the City of Philadelphia purchased the property with the intention of redeveloping it - but plans never materialised
THESE unnerving images reveal where the most notorious criminals in the United States served out their sentences - including gangster Al Capone.
Known for its revolutionary approach to imprisonment - with enforced separation from all other prisoners - alongside the use of a so-called "mad chair" to restrain inmates, Eastern State Penitentiary is itself as storied as the prisoners it once housed.
Built in 1829, the incredible building imprisoned some the country's worst killers and infamous crooks.
It was designed by Brit architect John Haviland. At the time, it was the most expensive public structure in the country with a final price tag of $750,000.
While in its current state it is crumbling and not fit for use, the prison, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is renowned for its architectural significance.
Haviland, taking much of inspiration from prisons and asylums built beginning in the 1780s in England and Ireland, gave the prison a neo-Gothic look.
The design hoped to install fear into those who thought of committing a crime.
And its chilling appearance is perhaps responsible for on-going rumours to this day that the building is haunted.
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Eastern State carried out what became known as the "Pennsylvania system" of imprisonment, which encouraged separate confinement as a form rehabilitation - a revolutionary concept at the time.
And one inmate that would was treated to the harsh form of imprisonment was Al Capone, the infamous gangster.
His rather spacious room, seen below, remains largely intact today.
The gangster had no outside contact, and had nothing more than a simple bed and arm chair, alongside a desk for him to write letters and a radio for entertainment.
The Chicago mobster spent eight months of a one year sentence for concealed weapons, at Eastern State Penitentiary in 1929.
The prison's harsh form of imprisonment softened eventually.
Until 1904, prisoners even entered the institution with a black hood over their head.
This was done so inmates would never know who their fellow convicts were, before being led to the cell where they would serve their sentence in solitude.
Upon entering the building, contact with the outside world ceased for Eastern State prisoners.
However each cell was lit by a single source of light - either by a skylight or window which became known as the "Eye of God".
The church viewed imprisonment as an instrument that would modify sinful or disruptive behaviour, and it was hoped that time spent in prison would help inmates reflect on their crimes committed.
This, the church said, would give them a chance of redemption.
Eventually the prison closed in 1971.
The City of Philadelphia purchased the property with the intention of redeveloping it, and while the site had several proposals - including a mall and a luxury apartment complex surrounded by the old prison walls - the plans never materialised.
In 1988, the Eastern State Penitentiary Task Force successfully petitioned Mayor Wilson Goode to halt redevelopment, and six years on Eastern State opened to the public for historic tours.
