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Picture

Eastern State Penitentiary
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


Location Details:

We recently made our way to Philadelphia for an overnight at Fort Mifflin. While in the area, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tour a location once known as the most famous and expensive prison in the world. The idea for this new prison was created in a meeting held at Benjamin Franklin's house in 1787. Eastern State Penitentiary opened in October of 1829 and operated until January 1971. In its 142 years of operation, Eastern State saw escapes by more than 100 inmates and held notorious lawbreakers such as Al Capone and Slick Willie. The penitentiary was given a neo-Gothic look, thinking that this would cause would-be criminals to think twice before committing a crime. However, this likely didn’t phase the most unusual of its inmates. Pep, an Irish Setter, was inmate No. C 2559. 

Our visits to this location:

  • Thursday, July 7th, 2022
Picture
​As Inmate No. C 2559, Irish Setter Pep was sentenced to life at Eastern State Penitentiary via an executive order by Governor Pinchot in 1924. Rumors have Pep as the Cat-Murdering Dog and accuse him of killing Governor Pincho’s wife’s favorite cat. Perhaps, though, poor Pep has been slandered by history. 

We suspect (as does the writer of this linked article) that Pep was falsely sentenced by a witty member of the press. He was probably never locked up at all and roamed the halls of Eastern State, loved by inmates and guards alike. 

It seems that the biggest crime Pep might have been guilty of was chewing up furniture in the Governor’s Mansion. In fact, ole Pep may have been one of the very first pups to practice improving morale in an institutional setting as a result of an attempt to protect gubernatorial chair legs. 

Location Pictures:

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  • Homebase
  • About Us
    • Our Members
    • Join Our Team
  • Partnerships
    • Theatre in the Park
    • Mordecai Historic Park
    • Murfreesboro Historical Association
    • Past Partnerships >
      • Historic Salisbury Foundation
  • Reviews
  • Schedules
    • Public Investigations
    • 2023
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
  • Locations
    • Commercial (4) >
      • Murfree-Smith Law Office
      • Salisbury Ice House
      • Wallace Annex
      • William Rea Store
    • Confinement (6) >
      • Brushy Mountain Penitentiary
      • Eastern State Penitentiary
      • Ohio State Reformatory
      • Old Chester County Jail
      • Old Wikes County Jail
      • West Virginia Penitentiary
    • Schools & Dormatories (3) >
      • Borden Building
      • École des Abrissaux
      • Hertford Academy
    • Entertainment (6) >
      • Bobby Mackey's
      • Carolina Theater
      • Lincoln Cultural Center
      • Raleigh Memorial Auditorium
      • Temple Theatre
      • Theatre in the Park
    • Estates (8) >
      • Andrew-Murphy
      • Bellaire House
      • Clarke House
      • G. S. Tucker
      • John Wheeler House
      • N. B. McCanless
      • Norwood House
      • Roberts-Vaughan House
      • Vincent Allen
      • Dr. Walter Reed House
    • Hospitality & Tourism (5) >
      • Country Squire
      • Empire Hotel
      • Grand Old Lady
      • Salisbury Depot
      • Seaboard Station
    • Landmarks (2) >
      • Castle Mont Rouge
      • Lake Shawnee
    • Medical & Emergency (7) >
      • Cresson Sanatorium
      • Old Fire Station No 5
      • Old South Pittsburg
      • St. Albans
      • Sweet Springs
      • Trans-Allegheny
      • Trivette Clinic
      • Waverly Hills
    • Military (2) >
      • Fort Mifflin
      • USS North Carolina
    • Museums (11) >
      • Bellamy Mansion
      • Brunswick Museum
      • Burgwin-Wright
      • Ferry Plantation
      • Hall House
      • Jefcoat Museum
      • Joel Lane House
      • NC Museum of History
      • Mordecai Park
      • Poplar Grove
      • Robert Cleveland
  • History Speaks
  • Presentations
  • FAQs
  • Contact Us