Alcatraz -- Guardhouse

The guardhouse was built in 1857.  It is the oldest building on the Island.

The guardhouse was designed to be the first line of defense against enemy landing parties.  It could only be reached by an oak drawbridge that spanned a 15-foot-deep dry moat.  Two gun ports for 24-pound howitzers flanked the entrance, and a chest-high wall with firing positions for riflemen capped the roof.

Soldiers entered the fort through the guardhouse and its fortified sally port -- a passageway with a heavy, iron-studded wooden door at each end.  Rifle slits lined the thick brick walls between the doors.  Any invader who made it through the first door would have to run a gauntlet of gunfire to reach the inner door.  Defenders could also gather inside the sally port in front of the sealed inner door and then burst out to drive off invaders.

Alcatraz guardhouse defenses were never tested in battle.  By 1862, the building was used to hold suspected Confederate sympathizers and U.S. army prisoners.  One of the rooms was converted to a stockade (jail cell).

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Click on each of the topics below to read about the history of Alcatraz:

Alcatraz the Early Years -- Alcatraz the Fort -- Alcatraz the Prison --
The Native American Occupation -- Natural Alcatraz -- Alcatraz the Tourist Attraction

Click on each of the headings below to read about each of the major areas at Alcatraz:

The Dock -- Guardhouse and Sally Port -- Post Exchange - Officers' Club -- Military Chapel --  Barracks - Apartments -- Warden's House -- Lighthouse -- Cellhouse -- The Gardens

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For tickets and tours, contact Alcatraz Media at www.alcatraz.us,
or call 866-268-8729 or 415-461-4608.