The tour and subsequent panel discussions were organized by the Preservation Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, which is leading the effort to turn the approximately 170-year-old prison into a major tourist attraction.
Organizers estimate it could take a decade - and $20 million - to restore the structure. They also hope that the prison could one day attract 100,000 or more visitors a year.
The overwhelming sentiment of the visitors was that Eastern State - which had a tremendous impact on prison construction worldwide a century ago - could be a perfect location not only to tell the story of prison life in Philadelphia, but also to serve as a catalyst for debate about crime in America today.
"Don't reduce this to titillating stories and the people who told them," said Larry Henry, who oversees several historic buildings in Colonial Williamsburg. "To me the challenge is to have an ongoing public dialogue about crime and punishment in this compelling and evocative location."
Most Philadelphians have never been inside the prison's 30-foot-high, 12- foot-thick stone walls. Even these professionals were humbled by what they saw.
Richard Burkert of the Johnstown Flood Museum compared it to a monastery. Chris Brady of the Old Idaho Penitentiary marveled at the level of detail - "Wow, that's a great door" - and the level of decay - "Just how much rain do you get around here?"
"Such a medieval feel," whispered Scott Smith, from Old Fort Jackson in Savannah, as he toured a cellblock.
Norman Johnston, a Beaver College professor who is writing a book about the prison, conducted the hour-long tour. He told the group that the Eastern State Penitentiary, built between 1822 and 1836, "is the most important prison in the United States."
