Alcatraz -- The Prison

Alcatraz was used as a prison since 1859 when 11 soldiers scheduled for confinement arrived with the first permanent fort garrison.

During the Civil War era, soldiers convicted of desertion, theft, assault, rape, and murder; citizens accused of treason; and the crew of a Confederate ship were imprisoned here.  The army also used Alcatraz for Hopi, Apache, and Modoc Indians captured during the various Indian wars of the mid to late nineteenth century as well as for military convicts during the Spanish-American War in 1898.

After the fort was decommissioned in 1907, the army began tearing down the citadel and building a huge concrete cellhouse.  In 1915, Alcatraz formally became known as the "United States Disciplinary Barracks - Pacific Branch," a military prison.  It wasn't long before conscientious objectors to World War I became Alcatraz inmates.

During the Great Depression in the 1930's, the newly-created Bureau of Prisons became interested in the island as a place for a high-profile, maximum-security facility.  Alcatraz was transferred from the War Department to the Department of Justice.

In 1934, Alcatraz became a federal maximum-security prison, and it became infamous for Mafia criminals and high-risk convicts.  Truth is, of the 1,545 men who did time on Alcatraz, only a handful were notorious.  Famous Alcatraz residents included Al "Scarface" Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, "Doc" Barker, Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, Floyd Hamilton, and Robert "Birdman of Alcatraz" Stroud.  Stroud had canaries at Leavenworth Penitentiary, but he never had birds at Alcatraz.  His real nickname was “Bird Doctor of Leavenworth.”

Most of the inmates at Alcatraz were men who had proven to be problems at other prisons -- escape risks and troublemakers.

There were 14 attempted federal prison-era escapes, and the best known occurred in June 1962 when Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin slipped into the water.  They used raincoats as flotation devices.  Although their bodies were never found, they are assumed to have drowned.

Alcatraz Island is located just a mile from Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, but there is no evidence that anyone ever escaped across the cold Bay waters.  In fact, Alcatraz was the only prison in the federal prison system that touted hot showers, a luxury designed to keep prisoners from acclimating to cold water.

As part of its security, the Bureau of Prisons deliberately restricted visitors.  It may have been this isolation and this apparent secrecy that prompted stories of miserable living conditions.  Few of these stories were true.

In 1963, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy closed Alcatraz due to the increasing maintenance and operating costs.  Prisoners were transferred to other correctional facilities, and Alcatraz was left to the care of a lone custodian. 

Alcatraz Prison Trivia:

Alcatraz is known as "The Rock." 

After the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, 176 prisoners from San Francisco jails were temporarily housed on Alcatraz.

Some say the exact location of Al Capone’s cell is unknown.  Part of his four-and-a-half years on Alcatraz were spent in a hospital isolation cell.

The Cellhouse was never filled to capacity.  The average number of prisoners was 260, and the maximum was 302.  There were 336 remodeled cells available.

There were no executions on Alcatraz, although there were five suicides and eight murders.

Prisoners remained on Alcatraz until they were no longer considered to be disruptive or incorrigible – an average of 8 to 10 years.

There were no female correctional officers or prisoners on Alcatraz.  Women prisoners could not be declared "incorrigible" until 1969, six years after the closure of Alcatraz.  The only females on the island were visitors and the correctional officers’ wives and children.

During the Island’s federal penitentiary days, the families who lived there rarely locked their doors.

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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.