Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site

What's On

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May

ReVision: Art and Justice

A new multi-year residency and exhibition series for justice-impacted artists. First artist-in-residence Cody Stuhltrager debuts a new body of work in autumn 2026.

Now showingOngoing$21

Permanent Collections

Prisons Today: Questions in the Age of Mass Incarceration

Interactive multimedia exhibit on how changes in laws, policing and sentencing, not behaviour, drove US incarceration past two million, and what could change next.

Permanent collection$21

Cindy Stockton Moore: Other Absences

Fifty ghostly portraits representing people murdered by those who would eventually be sent to Eastern State Penitentiary, painted across a cell's walls and ceiling.

Permanent collection$21

Jesse Krimes: Apokaluptein 16389067:II

A 39-panel surreal landscape made in prison from bed sheets, hair gel and magazine clippings, mailed home piece by piece and reassembled inside a cell.

Permanent collection$21

The Big Graph

A massive three-dimensional bar graph sculpture built to the scale of the prison walls, charting the growth of US incarceration since 1900 and its racial breakdown.

Permanent collection$21

Mark Loughney: Pyrrhic Defeat

A mural-scale grid of hand-drawn portraits humanising incarcerated people, now expanding to include criminal justice reform advocates. With Mural Arts Philadelphia.

Permanent collection$21

Alfred W. Fleisher Memorial Synagogue

Opened in 1922 and almost certainly the first synagogue built inside an American prison, restored to its 1959 appearance with wooden benches and a Torah ark.

Permanent collection$21

William Cromar: GTMO

A full-scale recreation of a cell from Camp X-Ray, the now-abandoned holding cells at the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Permanent collection$21

Freedom Through Faith: Judaism at Eastern State and Beyond

New exhibit interpreting the nation's first prison synagogue, the sacred space itself and its lasting legacy on religious freedom inside American prisons.

Permanent collection$21

Greg Cowper: Specimen

More than 500 insect and invertebrate specimens, inspired by eighteen species of butterflies and moths collected by an Eastern State prisoner in solitary confinement.

Permanent collection$21

Nearby

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Rodin Museum

Architecture9 min walk

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Philadelphia Museum of Art

Architecture9 min walk

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Barnes Foundation

Design10 min walk

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The Franklin Institute

Children14 min walk

Visitor Information

How much does Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site cost?

Standard adult admission to Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site is $21. Online: adults $21, seniors $19, students & youth 7-17 $17. At the door $2 more. Philadelphia high-school students free with ID; $2 off adults with SEPTA Key. Not recommended for children under 7. Halloween Nights is a separate ticketed evening event.. Prices for special exhibitions and timed-entry slots may differ.

What are the opening hours of Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site?

Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site is open Open daily 10:00-17:00 (March-November). Closed Tuesdays from 1 December to 22 December and again through January and February; open daily 23-31 December. Closed Thanksgiving Day (26 November 2026), Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.. Holiday hours can vary, so check the museum's website before you go.

Where is Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site?

Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site is located at 2027 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19130, United States, in the Fairmount area of Philadelphia. The nearest stations are Fairmount (Broad Street Line / Metro B), Fairmount Ave & 22nd St (bus 7, 48) and Girard (Broad Street Line).

What can I see at Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site?

The world's first true penitentiary: a ruined Gothic fortress of crumbling cellblocks, Al Capone's cell and radical prison art. Current highlights include Prisons Today: Questions in the Age of Mass Incarceration, Cindy Stockton Moore: Other Absences and ReVision: Art and Justice.

Do I need to book Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site in advance?

Booking ahead is recommended, especially for weekends, school holidays, and special exhibitions. Tickets are normally on the museum's website, and a pre-booked timed slot helps you avoid queues at the entrance.

When is the best time to visit Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site?

Weekday mornings shortly after opening are typically the quietest, especially mid-week. Late afternoons can also be calmer. Weekends, school holidays, and the lunch rush are the busiest periods.