October 2, 2011 at 6:00 pm

Picture of the Day: Al Capone's Jail Cell At Eastern State Penitentiary

by twistedsifter

 

AL CAPONE’S JAIL CELL AT EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY

 

al capone jail cell eastern state penitentiary Picture of the Day: Al Capone's Jail Cell At Eastern State Penitentiary
Photograph by Thesab

 

This is an inside, high-resolution picture of Al Capone’s cell as it exists today at Eastern State Penitentiary. One can imagine it must have looked even more impressive back in the day. The Eastern State Penitentiary is a former American prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located 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 [Source].

Alphonse Gabriel “Al” Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947) was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the “Capones”, was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early 1920s to 1931 [Source].

 

via Wikimedia Commons