Mahwah Offers Trip to Eastern State Penitentiary on Oct. 14

Mahwah will be offering residents a trip to Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary on Thursday, Oct. 14.

The cost of the trip is $47 a person and features deluxe motorcoach transportation, a guided tour of Eastern State Penitentiary and a three course luncheon at Jack’s firehouse.

The motor coach will depart from Mahwah at 8:30 a.m.

Eastern State Penitentiary was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, but stands in ruin today, with crumbling cellblocks and empty guard towers. It 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. Notorious criminals such as bank robber Willie Sutton and Al Capone were held inside its innovative wagon wheel design. At its completion, the building was the largest and most expensive public structure ever erected and quickly became a model for more than 300 prisons worldwide. Known for its grand architecture and strict discipline, this was the world’s first true penitentiary, a prison designed to inspire penitence, or true regret, in the hearts of convicts. Its vaulted sky-lit cells once held many of America’s most notorious inmates and world- wide influence.

Participants will walk across the street at 1 p.m. to Jack’s Firehouse, where a three course luncheon will await. The restaurant is situated in a 19th Century Firehouse in the charming Fairmount Neighborhood of Philadelphia. Much of the original Mahogany interior, wood plank floors, and even the brass fire pole remain intact to provide one of the most unique dining settings in the region.

Checks can be made out to Airbrook Limo and only payments will reserve spots.