Every visit to Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site is unique! ESPHS offers a variety of tours, exhibits, programs, and other dynamic ways to engage with this iconic site’s powerful history, deepen your understanding of the criminal justice system today, and imagine a more just future. The following offerings are all included with your daytime historic site admission
Audio Tour
Narrated by Steve Buscemi and featuring the voices of people who lived and worked at Eastern State Penitentiary, the audio tour takes you on a journey through the history and legacy of Eastern State. When you arrive, you’ll receive an audio guide. We recommend that you listen to our main audio tour (audio stops 1-10). From there, you can explore freely and engage with additional stops that highlight a wide variety of subjects like escapes, sports, sexuality, race, and more.
Guide-Led Tour
This 45-minute tour is led by an Eastern State educator and explores the penitentiary’s complex history, its ongoing relevance to contemporary social issues, and sets the stage for conversation about the role of prisons in society today. The Guide-Led Tour is included with admission; however, availability is limited. You can secure a spot on our Guide-Led Tour by purchasing timed Guide-Led Tour tickets for the day you plan to visit.
Otherwise, additional spots will be available on a first-come, first-served basis until the tour reaches capacity. Guide-Led Tours are offered once a day at 12:00 p.m. on weekdays and at 11:00 a.m. every Saturday and Sunday.
Purchase Guide-Led Tour Tickets
Mini Tours
These short tours take place throughout the historic site, each lasting from five to 20 minutes. Join an Eastern State educator to learn more about a special topic or explore a space not otherwise open to the public. Mini Tour topics change seasonally, but sample offerings include a tour about the 1945 tunnel escape, the opportunity to explore Soup Alley (prisoner dining area), a look inside the penitentiary’s hospital block, and a chance to learn about the prisoner-created religious murals inside the Catholic Chaplain's Office. Our Mini Tours schedule changes daily. Ask any staff member for more information.
Exhibits
Eastern State’s critically acclaimed exhibits illuminate the penitentiary’s history, uncover the stories of people who lived and worked inside its walls, and deepen understanding of the criminal justice system in America. Learn more about Jewish Life at Eastern State Penitentiary and consider the impact of mass incarceration with companion exhibits Prisons Today and The Big Graph.
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Art
There are 15 art installations currently on view at Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site—each offering a distinct, thought-provoking perspective on the history and impact of the criminal justice system.
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Points of Interest
Explore other points of interest throughout the historic site. See Al Capone’s Cell—restored to how it likely appeared in 1929—and learn more about the Prohibition-era figure’s short stay at Eastern State Penitentiary. Stand in the site’s central rotunda for a guard’s eye view down all seven original cellblocks. Visit the Alfred W. Fleisher Memorial Synagogue, almost certainly the first synagogue built inside an American prison. Learn more about the role of sports and games at Eastern State Penitentiary outside on the historic baseball field. And more!