The Island of Alcatraz started construction in the 1850’s and in 1861 the first unlucky prisoners stepped onto the island. The island was now a fully functional high security prison. In 1868 the prison was designated for military convicts and soon the worst offenders were sentenced to life on the island. The island was surrounded by frigid waters and sharks in the bay helped prevent ideas of escape. Some escape plans were put into motion but none fully succeeded. Many convicts found that Alcatraz ended their career in crime, while some found that Alcatraz was the end of their lives. Although the prison was the most secure and safest place to keep these convicts, the prison was shut down in 1963, after over 100 years of service, due to high maintenance costs of bringing materials and sustaining human life on the island. Ever since the prison opened, unexplained occurrences have been reported and no explanation has ever been confirmed.
The description of Alcatraz is sinister and quite mysterious. Many people describe it as a haunted attraction,
We all know that prisoners lived on Alcatraz Island, but where did the guards and their families live? Since Alcatraz is not very big, guard families lived in building number sixty-four. There were three apartment buildings, one large duplex, and four wooden houses for senior officers. The Warden lived in a large home adjacent to the cell houses. He used inmates that had been reported to have good behavior to clean and cook for him. The Captain and the Associate Warden lived in the one duplex. A...
Al Capone once said about Alcatraz " Don't mistake my kindness for weakness, I am kind to everyone, but when someone is unkind to me, weak is not what you are going to remember me about." One of the most dreaded prisons in America was Alcatraz, it was built on an island in the San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz was made for the United States most dangerous and difficult people during its years of being operated. Even though Alcatraz was built as a top end prison it was possible to escape, however it seemed prisoners never made it off the island alive.
Alcatraz began in 1850 as a military prison. Later it became a federal prison. Then on the verge of 30 years it was closed. Then for a while Indians used the island. Alcatraz was used to house the criminals who provoked problems at other jails. The island was located off the coast of California.
It was one of the toughest prisons of it time. There was nothing to do but stare at walls. It was mind dwindling. Nicknamed “The Rock,” Alcatraz was a place prisoners didn’t want to go. From the discovery of the island to the closing of the prison, Alcatraz has had a lot of action over the years. With a great warden that kept the place in check, “The Rock” stayed under control, even though Alcatraz held some of the worst criminals of its time. Has anyone escaped? Well, there were those three guys that went missing, but keep reading to find out about that. Alcatraz is one of the most famous prisons and can be visited by the public today.
Once authorized by Congress, the US Department of Justice acquired control of Alcatraz Island, previously a US Army compound. As the island was redeveloped into a maximum-security prison, seven of its twelve acres were enclosed in a prison compound. The remaining five were set aside for employee residences, apartments, and recreational space. Soon after the redesigning of the old Army fortress, the Alcatraz prison was ready for the grand opening (or better said lockout!). Equipped with four different cellblocks, A, B, C and D, the Rock began its operations on January 2, 1934. Although cellblock A was seldom used, B, C and D provided 378 “cages” to accommodate the most notorious felons that America could produce.
From the very beginning, many of the Native Americans that arrived that first night were ill prepared for any type of extended stay at Alcatraz. They did not bring enough food or water, their clothing was inadequate for the cold weather and the dampness of the fog, they brought no medical supplies, and many did not bring anything to sleep on, such as a sleeping bag or a bedroll. Only a select few has actually planned for a stay of longer than a few days. The occupying group relied heavily on donations from celebrities, rock bands, and local politicians for support, food and water.
In the icy cold waters of San Francisco Bay their floats the notorious Island of Alcatraz. It is no more part of pop culture for being just an island than it is for having a prison on it. No. Alcatraz was so notorious because it had some of the world’s most dangerous and violent criminals inside the walls of the prison. The prison had incredible security and was renowned for being inescapable, except when it was broken out of. In 1962 four men devised and perpetrated a brilliant almost fantastical escape, the only traces of their making it out are the mysterious gifts received by the families, personal belongs left on the shore, and that their bodies that were never found.
On the San Francisco Bay lays an island only 1½ miles away from the shoreline. This piece of land is one of the top tourist spots in the city that draws over one million visitors a year (staff, hisotry.com, 2009) However, even though it is a wonderful place to visit, fifty years ago it was not. In fact not a single person wanted to go there. It was a dark, lonely, secluded place that you would try everything in your means to escape. This place is known as Alcatraz and it was a prison to some of the nation’s worst criminals in the United States from 1934 until its closure in 1963, almost 30 years. Alcatraz Prison has a long and remarkable history, filled with some of the most fun and interesting facts ranging from the U.S. military to notorious criminals and famous escape attempts inspiring a few top wonderful movies starring lead actors like Clint Eastwood or Sean Connery.
2. Professor Clyde W. Richins, University of Michigan, 1990, Vol. 1 of "In the life of Alcatraz" pages 1944- 46
San Francisco is a very unique place.With a population of 725,000 its culture is unlike any other. The city has so many different experiences that you do not want to miss. If you ever plan to travel to San Francisco you should know about their attractions, transportation, and some of their interesting facts.
...ark Tourism: Alcatraz and Robben Island” Annals of Tourism Research vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 386-405
We stepped off the large tour boat with a look of fright in both our eyes. Some joy was there, but knowing what went on in this place made us feel the way we did. To me, Alcatraz didn't really look like a shut down prison at that moment. It looked more like an old worn down cemetery. The paint on most of the buildings was chipped off all the way down to the wood. Most of the buildings had collapsed down to some cement foundations and old rusted poles hanging every other way. As we walked to the building where you start your tour, that was probably the only building at this place with cleanliness to it. They gave us our tour headphones, which take you through the whole prison with a audio guide telling you how it was in the prison. Not just how it was for the prisoners, but how it was for the guards too.