York County Prison - York, Pennsylvania
The current structure of this prison was designed in 1906. There are 5 eerie floors and a roof with a fantastic view of the city! The prison was built by architect B. F. Willis, who created a trap door where hangings were executed.
Several bad rumors spread around about the prison in its later years. Stories of racial segregation among prisoners were reported, bed bugs were rumored, and the only meat that was served during a two-week period was roadkill that was picked up by prison guards. The prison was closed in 1979, and it has been a point of interest ever since. The property was purchased by John and Joyce Gearhart in 1982.
Here are some pictures from the outside. All entrances are either closed off with bars, or welded shut.
There was a secret entrance that my friend and I located. We got in and were immediately in awe. Everything about the building was spooky. The floors were either old and rotting or just plain dirt. The walls were rotted as well. The patterns and textures inside of the building were very peculiar.
Nearly all of the windows were punched out and broken. It was an interesting view.
Most of the floors looked like this. I guess since they have been untouched for nearly 40 years, it makes sense that they would look like that.
The ceiling in one of the rooms
Rusted door on the first floor. Beautiful color scheme.
Giant hole in the wall next to the front door.
Texture of the walls.
Texture on one of the ceilings.
Ceiling texture
Antique chair left alone in a corner.
Knocked out window in a dark room.
The door to what looked like an old utility cabinet.
The stairs to the main hallway. There was only one set of stairs in the middle of the building.
Here's a picture of the actual jail cells. They were identical on either side of each floor on all 3 floors that the cells were on. The rust was fascinating.
Close-up picture of the cell door. On the inside there were tiny toilets that didn't look large enough for a toddler to sit on.
Interesting pattern on each cell.
Don't look down when walking on one of these walkways.
I wonder how long these windows have been open!
I love how intricate the texture is. You really don't see that often!
View approaching the staircase. Pay attention to the details on each stair and the rotting cells on either side.
Spookiest shot of the whole day.
Same.
We come in peace. Apparently many people like to go up to the top floor and spray paint all over the walls.
The roof had an awesome view of downtown York. You can see the York Hotel and "On Top of the World". It was scary to get up that high though, there was about a 30 feet climb up a shaky old ladder. Not the safest idea but why not!
