Buck’s students went to the most haunted prison in Pennsylvania, the Eastern State Penitentiary on an educational field trip on Friday Oct. 13.

When students arrived first impressions varied with responses of curiosity, intimidation, and excitement. Emily Blair, 19, a Photography major says “The building was intimidating and almost eerie to look at. It looked spooky.”

Forty-five students made their way through the looming gates of the historical prison which opened in 1829 and closed in January 1970 and is now considered the most haunted prison in America. Known for its grand architecture and strict discipline of inmates this penitentiary was a prison designed to instill true regret into its prisoners.

Students were guided through the historical building learning about the rich history and haunting stories of isolation, solitude and segregation. Amy Dobondi, 19, a history major at Bucks said, “Learning about the treatment of prisoners, the children born there, the segregation of prisoners and the problems with our justice system today especially when compared to other countries made me feel somber.”

Students had the opportunity to learn about the justice system and incarceration rates during this trip. With charts being displayed compare America which holds the sixth-highest incarceration rate as of 2023 to other countries.

Another subject talked about how prisons functioned in the past vs the present and the difference between government-owned versus company-owned prisons. Blake Rubin, 18, an education major at Bucks says, “I wasn’t aware of that, it made my stomach crawl thinking about how many people were probably innocent and sent to jail.”

Afterwards, students saw the penitentiary’s most famous resident cell Alphonse “Scarface” Capone who spent eight months at the Eastern State Penitentiary from 1929 through 1930. Deborah Hammond, 23, Undecided major at Bucks said, “My favorite part of the trip was visiting Al Capone’s cell. It was easy to see the influence Al Capone had over the prison itself just by seeing how luxuriously his cell was decorated.”

The Eastern State Penitentiary had over 100 people attempt to escape the Penitentiary with Leo Callahan being one of just four people that got away with it. In 1923 Callahan escaped with five other prisoners using a ladder to scale the east wall of the penitentiary. Emily Sabella, 19, a Nursing major at Bucks County Community College said, “The most interesting thing I learned was how many prisoners tried to escape and that only four were not found.”

With it being the most haunted prison in America it should be no surprise that students felt a chill in the air with Sabella saying, “I think the place is haunted there was a noise coming from a room where nobody was in, and my one friend who was taking pictures her camera was focusing on something that wasn’t there.”

Even with the long walks and odd noises, students seemed to enjoy the day, with Guljahan Genjiyeva, 19, a criminal justice major saying, “My favorite part of the trip was that I made new friends, and the trip made me feel really happy and I really liked it.”