Introduction:

Located at 11^th and East Passyunk Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the former ACME Supermarket and current CVS, was not always so. Prior to the building of the ACME Supermarket, this plot of land was home to one of Philadelphia’s many prisons, the Moyamensing Prison. Traces of the old prison’s wall can still be found along 11^th Street, but most of the history has faded into memory since the prison’s demolition in 1967. Throughout the course of Hopper’s Diary, we encounter quite a number of discharged convicts who had spent time in the Moyamensing Prison.

History:

When the Walnut Street Prison closed in 1838, construction on Moyamensing Prison began. Moyamening Prison was to be the successor prison to Walnut Street. Thomas Walkter, the designer of the United States Capitol Building, was tasked with designing the Prison. Walter used the Eastern State Penitentiary as his basis of the design. Considering the Prison was meant to hold violent prisoners, the designers believed the Prison should have a menacing prescence which would invoke fear into the prisoners and potential troublemakers.  Moreover, the Prison contained a separate “Debtors Apartment” in an Egyptian-Revival style. The doors where flanked by lotus-bud columns and molding decorated with winged ten sun disks. There was also a separate wing that served as a debtors’ prison (Rogers). However, by completion, the laws which defined the imprisonment of debtors were repealed and the wing became home to a women’s annex.

Moyamensing was the major hub for those facing and serving misdemeanor charges since its opening up until 1896. A second country facility, Holmesburg, was opened in 1896 and took over as the major hub. For nearly 140 years, the prison housed nearly four hundred inmates at one point, even after losing prisoners to Holmesburg. In 1963, Moyamensing Prison closed its doors and was eventually demolished in 1967 to make way for ACME.

In the nearly 140 years of the prison, Moyamensing was home to quite a few “famous” prisoners that many of us know. In 1849, poet Edgar Allen Poe was imprisoned for public drunkenness and was released after serving one day. Al Capone was imprisoned there on May 16, 1929, when Capone and crew were arrested in Philadelphia. Capone spent one night in the facility before being transferred to Holmesburg and Eastern State Penitentiary. In 1855, abolitionist Passmore Williamson, a member of the Anti-Slavery Society, served close to one hundred days at the Prison. He was arrested for aiding in the escape of Jane Johnson, a slave, and her two children. Following the abolition of public hangings in 1834, private hangings were carried out. Eventually private hangings were phased out when electric chair executions emerged. The last execution by hanging in Pennsylvania occurred at Moyamensing Prison. Perhaps the most interesting “famous” prisoner and fact about Moyamensing was that it was home to one of America’s first serial killer, H.H. Holmes. In 1896, Holmes was arrested and imprisoned in Moyamensing for the gruesome executions and dissections of his victims. His arrest occurred in Philadelphia after a police officer entered Holmes’ office and discovered his business partner’s body.

Conclusion:

In 1963, Moyamensing Prison began to fade into the shadows of history, as it closed its doors permanently. All that remains now are bits and pieces of one wall. Now, the only place to learn more about Moyamensing is through a deep dive research into the prison systems.

Sources:

Anderson, Annie. "Prisons and Jails." Treaty of Shackamaxon | Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. 2017. Accessed March 01, 2019. https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/prisons-and-jails/.

"Five Fascinating Facts About Philadelphia's Moyamensing Prison." National Law Enforcement Museum. April 3, 2014. Accessed March 01, 2019. https://lawenforcementmuseum.org/2014/04/03/five-fascinating-facts-abou/.

Rogers, Jennifer. "Then And Now: 11th & East Passyunk Avenue." Hidden City Philadelphia RSS. July 12, 2015. Accessed March 01, 2019. https://hiddencityphila.org/2015/07/then-and-now-11th-passyunk-avenue/.