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The Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) is a former American prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located on 2027 Fairmount Avenue between Corinthian Avenue and North 22nd Street in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia and was operational from 1829 until 1971. The penitentiary refined the revolutionary system of separate incarceration first pioneered at the Walnut Street Jail which emphasized principles of reform rather than punishment. Designed by John Haviland and opened on October 25, 1829, Eastern State is considered to be the world's first true penitentiary. The Penitentiary was intended not simply to punish, but to move the criminal toward spiritual reflection and change. Notorious criminals such as bank robber Willie Sutton and Al Capone were held inside its unique wagon wheel design. When the building was erected it was the largest and most expensive public structure ever constructed, quickly becoming a model for more than 300 prisons worldwide.

Originally, inmates were housed in cells that could only be accessed by entering through a small exercise yard attached to the back of the prison; only a small portal, just large enough to pass meals, opened onto the cell blocks. This design proved impractical, and in the middle of construction, cells were constructed that allowed prisoners to enter and leave the cell blocks through metal doors that were covered by a heavy wooden door to filter out noise. The halls were designed to have the feel of a church. Some believe that the doors were small so prisoners would have a harder time getting out, minimizing an attack on a security guard. Others have explained the small doors forced the prisoners to bow while entering their cell. This design is related to penance and ties to the religious inspiration of the prison. The cells were made of concrete with a single glass skylight, representing the "Eye of God", hinting to the prisoners that God was always watching them. Outside the cell, there was an individual area for exercise, enclosed by high walls so prisoners couldn't communicate. Each exercise time for each prisoner was synchronized so no two prisoners next to each other would be out at the same time. Prisoners were allowed to garden and even keep pets in their exercise yards. When prisoners left the cell, a guard would accompany them and wrap a hood over their heads to prevent them from being recognized by other prisoners.

Proponents of the system believed strongly that the criminals, exposed, in silence, to thoughts of their behavior and the ugliness of their crimes, would become genuinely penitent. In reality, the guards and councilors of the facility designed a variety of physical and psychological torture regimens for various infractions, including dousing prisoners in freezing water outside during winter months, chaining their tongues to their wrists in a fashion such that struggling against the chains could cause the tongue to tear, strapping prisoners into chairs with tight leather restraints for days on end, and putting the worst behaved prisoners into a pit called "The Hole", an underground cellblock dug under cellblock 14 where they would have no light, no human contact, and little food for as long as two weeks.

In 1924, Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot allegedly sentenced Pep "The Cat-Murdering Dog" (an actual dog) to a life sentence at Eastern State. Pep allegedly murdered the governor’s wife’s cherished cat. Prison records reflect that Pep was assigned an inmate number (no. C2559), which is seen in his mug shot. However, the reason for Pep’s incarceration remains a subject of some debate. A newspaper article reported that the governor donated his own dog to the prison to increase inmate morale.

On April 3, 1945, a major prison escape was carried out by twelve inmates (including the infamous Willie Sutton) who over the course of a year managed to dig an undiscovered 97-foot (30 m) tunnel under the prison wall to freedom. During renovations in the 1930s an additional 30 incomplete inmate-dug tunnels were also discovered.

The prison is currently a U.S. National Historic Landmark (designated as such in 1966), which is open to the public as a museum and historic site for tours seven days a week, twelve months a year 10 am to 5 pm.

SOURCE

#esp #philadelphia #penitentiary #prison #jail #cell #jail cell #eastern state penitentiary #eastern state #location

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Famous Paranormal Photos

Author: Brianna Williams

A collection of photographs featuring apparitions. While many have been proven to be genuine thus far, others are widely regarded as hoaxes. More to come shortly, enjoy!

Captured on the tulip staircase by Rev. Ralph Hardy…

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Moonville Tunnel Zaleski, Ohio

The small mining town of Moonville, which was founded in the 1850’s, was once located around the tunnel which was used by the Marietta-Cincinnati Railroad. The town really was tiny, during it’s peak in the 1870’s there were maybe 60-100 residents living there. The town totally disappeared sometime in the 1930s…now all that’s left is the tunnel, the cemetery, and a few old house foundations. The railroad stopped using the tracks in late 1986, and the tracks were torn out in 1988. Many people consider the Moonville Tunnel one of Ohio’s most haunted locations. The ghost that is most often seen at the Moonville Tunnel is the ghost of a railroad worker. On March 29, 1859 a Marietta-Cincinnati railroad worker fell onto the tracks outside the tunnel and was hit by a train. Today people claim to see his ghost walking along the tracks with a lantern. He is always seen wearing his railroad uniform. One legend has it that his head was decapitated when the train killed him, so some claim the ghost is headless. Numerous other hauntings have been reported here.

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Rolling Hills Asylum Shadowman

This amazing picture was taken by Sharon Coyle, owner of the famously haunted Rolling Hills Asylum in East Bethany, New York.

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Perkasie Paranormal's first meeting to be held at LOVE Park Saturday, May 19th.

Hi, I'm Liz. I'm the founder of the Perkasie Paranormal investigation group. We have announced our first meeting, which we be held at noon in Love Park in Philadelphia on Saturday, May 19th.

Our goals will be to introduce ourselves, share our stories, and plan for our first location and hunt.

Any and all welcome to join.

I look forward to meeting with my team.

-Liz, Perkasie Paranormal

#paranormal #perkasie #philadelphia #meeting #ghost #ghost hunt #investigate #haunted #spirits #love park #love

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Pennhurst State School & Hospital, Spring City PA

Pennhurst State School and Hospital, originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania State Institution for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic is positioned on the border between Chester Count and Montgomery County in Pennsylvania. Pennhurst was an institution for the mentally and physically disabled individuals of Southeastern Pennsylvania. After a decade of controversy, it closed on December 9th, 1987.

In 1903, the Pennsylvania Legislature authorized the creation of the Eastern State Institution for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic and a commission was organized to take into consideration the number and status of the feeble-minded and epileptic persons in the state and determine a placement for construction to care for these residents. This commission discovered 1,146 feeble-minded persons in insane hospitals and 2,627 in almshouses, county-care hospitals, reformatories, and prisons and were in immediate need of specialized institutional care. The legislation stated that the buildings would be in two groups, one for the educational and industrial department, and one for the custodial or asylum department. The institution was required to accommodate no less than five hundred inmates or patients, with room for additions.

On November 23, 1908, "Patient number 1" was admitted to the hospital. Within four years of operation, Pennhurst was already overcrowded and under pressure to admit immigrants, orphans and criminals. Some of the sensorial and functional anomalies, vices of constitution and habit, and disorders of volition common to the feeble-minded admitted to Pennhurst were Strabismus, defective sight and/or hearing, mute, semi-mute, imperfect speech, paralytic, epileptic, blind, imperfect gait, imperfect prehension, deformity of face, head, limbs and/or feet, microcephalic or hydrocephalic head, and offensive habits. The branches of industry which residents were assigned to were mattress making, shoe making and repair, grading, farming, laundry, domestic duties, sewing, baking, butchering, painting, and working in the store.

In 1913, the legislature appointed a Commission for the Care of the Feeble-Minded which stated that the disabled were unfit for citizenship and posed a menace to the peace, and thus recommended a program of custodial care. Furthermore, the Commission desired to prevent the intermixing of the genes of those imprisoned with the general population. In the Biennial Report to the Legislature submitted by the Board of Trustees, Pennhurst's Chief Physician quoted Henry H Goddard, a leading eugenicist, as follows:

"Every feeble-minded person is a potential criminal. The general public, although more convinced today than ever before that it is a good thing to segregate the idiot or the distinct imbecile, they have not as yet been convinced as to the proper treatment of the defective delinquent, which is the brighter and more dangerous individual."

In 1916, the Board of Trustees initiated a plan to increase the capacity of the Institution by constructing cottages specifically for females to segregate them from the males, in part to prevent pregnancies.

In 1968, conditions at Pennhurst were exposed in a five-part television news report anchored by local NBC10 correspondent Bill Baldini. "Suffer the Little Children." In 1983, nine employees were indicted on charges ranging from slapping and beating patients (including some in wheelchairs) to arranging for patients to assault each other. The Halderman Case, which resulted in the closure of the institution, also detailed widespread patient abuse.

Pennhurst was featured on the shows Ghost Adventures on Travel Channel, Ghost Hunters on SyFy and Celebrity Ghost Stories on BIO. Pennhurst State School is said to be extremely active with paranormal activity. There have been reports of full bodied apparitions, voices of people talking, screams of patients, doors slamming and the uneasy feeling of constantly being watched. The school is only recently been investigated by the Ghost Adventures team and they seemed to experience a lot of the proposed activity during their investigation, including the possible moving of a desk.

Pennhurst is said to have the spirits of abused patients lurking the corridors, tunnels and rooms. Reports rumor that some patients were murdered in experiments in the hospital and medical rooms, patients' teeth were removed if they misbehaved, and many died of neglect, rape or assault. Some stories involve patients killing themselves by jumping from high places, but this seems inconclusive as the windows were screened and the stairwells barred to prevent exactly this type of incident.

The Pennhurst State School is currently closed to the public.

SOURCE

SOURCE

Help Keep Pennhurst Alive

#abandoned #ghost #haunted #paranormal #spirit #story #pennhurst

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Pennhurst State School and Hospital, Spring City PA

Pennhurst was constructed and opened in 1908 as a state school for the mentally and physically disabled. The buildings were designed by architect Phillip H Johnson, and the property was vast, covering 120 acres, and created to house over 10,000 patients. The buildings were named towns in the state, such as Devon and Chester. Many of the buildings are linked by an underground tunnel system designed for transportation of  handicapped patients to and from the dormitory, recreational buildings and dietary. Orginally named Pennhurst Home for the Feeble Minded and Epileptic, Pennhurst was one of the largest institutions of its kind in Pennsylvania. Half of its residents were committed my court order, and the other half by parents or guardians.

Pennhurst was often accused of dehumanization and was said to have provided no help to the mentally challenged. The institution had a long history of staff difficulties and negative public image. In 1968, a report by NBC's Bill Baldini called "Suffer the Little Children" was released, displaying to the public some of the horrible things that occurred behind the walls of Pennhurst. Pennhurst State School was closed in 1986 following several allegations of abuse, which led to the first lawsuit of its kind in the United States. Pennhurst State School and Hospital vs. Terry Lee Halderman (one of the school's former residents) asserted that the mentally retarded have a constitutional right to living quarters and an education. Terry's complaints stated the the conditions at Pennhurst were unsanitary, inhumane and dangerous and that Pennhurst used cruel and unusual punishment. The trial lasted 32 days and after an immense investigation prosecutors concluded that the conditions at Pennhurst were not only dangerous, with physical and mental abuse of its patients, but also inadequate for the care and habilitation for the mentally retarded. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania also concluded that the physical, mental and intellectual skills of most of the patients had deteriorated while in Pennhurst.

Pennhurst was ordered closed in 1986 and began a program of de-institutionalism that lated several years. Patients were thrown out and a large homeless contingent developed in the area. Once the buildings were closed, they began to rapidly deteriorate from lack of heating, moisture invasion and vandalism. Thousands of people began to illegally tour the property, spray painting everything in sight and breaking all the glass in the place, and theft was rampant. Pennhurst feel into complete ruin as the complex was shut down. Buildings were abandoned as they were, with patients' clothes and belongings strewn about. Furniture, cabinets and medical equipment were left to decay as if someone had just got up and walked out.

SOURCE --> click "History"

Help Keep Pennhurst Alive

#pennhurst #location #haunted #abandoned

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This was a photo taken by one of our members. She'd like to know if you have any opinions on what these spots may be.

My personal opinion was that I obviously cannot say for sure, but I do believe this can be debunked as dust, as you would see much much more of the circular objects than a simple 1 or 3 at a time, and you can see the progression on movement as they move from one end of frame to the other, closer to the corner.

Any opinions?

Submitted by member: Daya

#orb #haunted #ghost #spirit #paranormal #house #spooky #creept #scary

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Eastern State Penitentiary

When Eastern State Penitentiary opened in 1829, it was hailed as a new type of prison, utilizing solitary confinement not just as an occasional punishment, but as the primary state for prisoners. But that doesn't mean solitary confinement was the only punishment prisoners received. About's Guide to Crime has a chilling overview of the tortuous punishments prisoners underwent. 

Unsurprisingly, today Eastern State is supposedly one of the most haunted Philadelphia locations.  People have reported hearing laughter, seeing shadowy figures and even the feeling of being grabbed by an invisible force.  Every October, Eastern State Penitentiary hosts a haunted house known as Terror Behind the Walls. It is, understandably, very scary.

#ESP #eastern state penitentiary #eastern state #philadelphia #penitentiary #prison #haunted #ghost #location

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Real ghost sightings - Haunted Logan Inn in New Hope, Pennsylvania

The Logan Inn in New Hope, PA is home to one of the most haunted inn's in the country. Visit the inn for some of the scariest hauntings and other psychic phenomena.

Bunk down with Emily in room 6, or dine with the Revolutionary War Soldier in the Inn's tavern. Visit the website for more information on this historic and haunted inn.

#logan inn #new hope #location #story #haunted #scary #spooky #ghost #paranormal

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Haunted City Tavern in historic Old City Philadelphia - real ghost sightings

Visit the City Tavern in historic Old City Philadelphia. Sit at the bar where the tavern's oldest bartender is always on the job.

Killed in a bar room duel he was not involved in, the former bartender is sometimes seen in his bloody white shirt falling to the ground. Silverware moves, dishes clatter, and it is all part of the City Tavern experience.

#story #location #ghost #haunted #building #tavern #philadelphia

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Real ghost sightings at Friends Hospital in Philadelphia

Friend Hospital, located on Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia is home to some ghostly visitors. A woman wanders the halls, presumable a former psychiatric patient who died at the hospital. Others have witnessed doors opening and closing in the hospital.

#story #location #ghost #haunted #hospital

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Real ghost sightings at St. Peter's Cemetery - Haunted in Philadelphia

As far as haunted graveyards go, St. Peter's Cemetery in Philadelphia is one of the best. There have been sitings of restless Native Americans walking the grounds, horse-drawn carriages moving through the cemetery toward the church and an African American man dressed in colonial uniform wandering the cemetery at night.

Located at 4th and Pine, visit late at night or in the predawn hours. You too may have a ghostly encounter.

#cemetery #ghost #graveyard #haunting #story #location

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if there is anyone out there in the philadelphia and bucks county area interested in ghost hunting and willing to participate in a public hunt on july 7 at 9 pm let me know - meeting next weekend for more info

#philadelphia #spring city #pennhurst #ghost #ghost hunt #paranormal #paranormal investigation #investigate #ghost investigation #haunted #spooky #creepy #scary #abandoned #asylum #hospital #school

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