Poquessing Creek Trail Ruins Philadelphia – Prison farm ruins
Thanks to the relatively new Poquessing Creek Trail , you can now access these old farm ruins in far Northeast Philadelphia. This is a large site of stone and concrete building ruins covered in graffiti.
Originally this site belonged to the now-abandoned Holmesburg Prison as part of their prison farm - inmates worked at the farm to grow food for the prison population
Holmesburg Prison sold most of its farm land to the state to build the now infamous (and demolished) Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry, but I have not been able to confirm if these specific ruins were a part of that sale. Either way, the ruins are very close to the old Byberry campus, which is now the site of a senior living community called The Arbours at Eagle Pointe.
In 2014 the city of Philadelphia finished paving the 1.5-mile path between Junod Playground and Poquessing Creek Park. You can park in either location and walk the paved trail to get to the site. When I visited, the path leading to the ruins was unofficially marked with graffiti on the trail.
Park on the street in front of Junod Playground. The trail starts behind the restrooms between the basketball and tennis courts. It is almost exactly one mile from Junod Playground to the ruins, which will be on your left. As you are walking the trail, make sure you are keeping an eye out for trail markers as you need to cross a street and a culdesac that bisect the trail.
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