Alcatraz Island is located in the San Francisco Bay, 1.25 miles (2.

01 km) offshore from San

Francisco, California, United States.[2] The small island was developed with facilities for a
lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison (1868), and a federal prison from 1933 until
1963.[5] Beginning in November 1969, the island was occupied for more than 19 months by a
group of aboriginal people from San Francisco who were part of a wave of Native activism
across the nation with public protests through the 1970s. In 1972, Alcatraz became a national
recreation area and received designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
Today, the island's facilities are managed by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate
National Recreation Area; it is open to tours. Visitors can reach the island by ferry ride from Pier
33, near Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco. Hornblower Cruises and Events, operating under the
name Alcatraz Cruises, is the official ferry provider to and from the island.
It is home to the abandoned prison, the site of the oldest operating lighthouse on the West Coast
of the United States, early military fortifications, and natural features such as rock pools and a
seabird colony (mostly western gulls, cormorants, and egrets). According to a 1971 documentary
on the History of Alcatraz, the island measures 1,675 feet (511 m) by 590 feet (180 m) and is 135
feet (41 m) at highest point during mean tide.[6] However, the total area of the island is reported to
be 22 acres (8.9 ha).[2]
Landmarks on the island include the Main Cellhouse, Dining Hall, Library, Lighthouse, the ruins
of the Warden's House and Officers Club, Parade Grounds, Building 64, Water Tower, New
Industries Building, Model Industries Building, and the Recreation Yard.

Contents
[hide]

1 History
o 1.1 Military garrison

1.1.1 Military prison

o 1.2 Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary

2 Post-prison years
o 2.1 Native American occupation

3 Landmarks

4 Development

5 Fauna and flora

o 5.1 Habitat
o 5.2 Flora

6 In popular culture

7 Gallery

8 See also

9 References

10 Further reading

11 External links

History

Alcatraz Island, 1895.

Alcatraz in the dawn mist, from the east. The "parade ground" is at left.

Alcatraz Island and lighthouse at sunset

The water tower and powerhouse (at right), which generated electricity for the island.

A model of Military Point Alcatraz, 18661868, now on display at Alcatraz Island

The first Spaniard to document the island was Juan Manuel de Ayala in 1775, who charted San
Francisco Bay and named one of the three islands he identified as the "La Isla de los Alcatraces,"
which translates as "The Island of the Pelicans,"[1][7][8][9][10][11] from the archaic Spanish alcatraz (in
English: "pelican"). Over the years, the Spanish version "Alcatraz" became popular and is now
widely used. In August 1827, French Captain Auguste Bernard Duhaut-Cilly wrote "...running
past Alcatraze's (Pelicans) Island...covered with a countless number of these birds. A gun fired
over the feathered legions caused them to fly up in a great cloud and with a noise like a
hurricane."[12] The California brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) is not known to
nest on the island today. The Spanish built several small buildings on the island and other minor
structures.[6]

Military garrison
The earliest recorded owner of the island of Alcatraz is Julian Workman, to whom it was given
by Mexican governor Pio Pico in June 1846, with the understanding that Workman would build a
lighthouse on it.[13] Julian Workman is the baptismal name of William Workman, co-owner of
Rancho La Puente and personal friend of Pio Pico. Later in 1846, acting in his capacity as

Military Governor of California, John C. Fremont, champion of Manifest Destiny and leader of
the Bear Flag Republic, bought the island for $5,000 in the name of the United States
government from Francis Temple.[6][14][15][16] In 1850, President Millard Fillmore ordered that
Alcatraz Island be set aside specifically as a United States military reservation,[10] for military
purposes based upon the U.S. acquisition of California from Mexico following the Mexican
American War.[17] Fremont had expected a large compensation for his initiative in purchasing and
securing Alcatraz Island for the U.S. government, but the U.S. government later invalidated the
sale and paid Fremont nothing. Fremont and his heirs sued for compensation during protracted
but unsuccessful legal battles that extended into the 1890s.[15][17]

The lighthouse tower adjacent to the prison cell house

Following the acquisition of California by the United States as a result of the Treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) which ended the MexicanAmerican War, and the onset of the
California Gold Rush the following year, the U.S. Army began studying the suitability of
Alcatraz Island for the positioning of coastal batteries to protect the approaches to San Francisco
Bay. In 1853, under the direction of Zealous B. Tower, the United States Army Corps of
Engineers began fortifying the island, work which continued until 1858, eventuating in Fortress
Alcatraz. The island's first garrison at Camp Alcatraz, numbering about 200 soldiers and 11
cannons, arrived at the end of that year.
When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, the island mounted 85 cannons (increased to
105 cannons by 1866) in casemates around its perimeter, though the small size of the garrison
meant only a fraction of the guns could be used at one time. At this time it also served as the San
Francisco Arsenal for storage of firearms to prevent them falling into the hands of Confederate
sympathizers.[18] Alcatraz, built as a "heavily fortified military site on the West Coast", formed a
"triangle of defense" along with Fort Point and Lime Point, and ensured security to the bay. The
island was also the site of the first operational lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States.

Alcatraz never fired its guns offensively, though during the war it was used to imprison
Confederate sympathizers and privateers on the west coast.[19]
[10]

Military prison
Main article: Alcatraz Citadel
Because of its isolation from the outside by the cold, strong, hazardous currents of the waters of
San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz was used to house Civil War prisoners as early as 1861.
Following the war in 1866, the army determined that the fortifications and guns were being
rapidly rendered obsolete by advances in military technology. Modernization efforts, including
an ambitious plan to level the entire island and construct shell-proof underground magazines and
tunnels, were undertaken between 1870 and 1876 but never completed (the so-called "parade
ground" on the southern tip of the island represents the extent of the flattening effort).[20] Instead,
the army switched the focus of its plans for Alcatraz from coastal defense to detention, a task for
which it was well suited because of its isolation. In 1867, a brick jailhouse was built (previously
inmates had been kept in the basement of the guardhouse), and in 1868, Alcatraz was officially
designated a long-term detention facility for military prisoners. The facility was later
discontinued for POW's in 1946. Among those incarcerated at Alcatraz were Confederates caught
on the West Coast,[6] and some Hopi Native American men in the 1870s.[21]
In 1898, the SpanishAmerican War increased the prison population from 26 to over 450, and
from 1905 to 1907 it was commanded by George W. McIver. After the 1906 San Francisco
earthquake, civilian prisoners were transferred to Alcatraz for safe confinement. On March 21,
1907, Alcatraz was officially designated as the Western U.S. Military Prison, later Pacific
Branch, U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, 1915.[18] In 1909 construction began on the huge concrete
main cell block, designed by Major Reuben Turner, which remains the island's dominant feature.
It was completed in 1912. To accommodate the new cell block, the Citadel, a three-story
barracks, was demolished down to the first floor, which was actually below ground level. The
building had been constructed in an excavated pit (creating a dry "moat") to enhance its
defensive potential. The first floor was then incorporated as a basement to the new cell block,
giving rise to the popular legend of "dungeons" below the main cell block. The Fortress was
deactivated as a military prison in October 1933 and transferred to the Bureau of Prisons.[18]
During World War I, the prison held conscientious objectors, including Philip Grosser, who
wrote a pamphlet entitled Uncle Sam's Devil's Island about his experiences.[22]

Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary

Main article: Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary

An exterior view of the Alcatraz main cell block from the exercise yard.
The United States Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz was acquired by the United States
Department of Justice on October 12, 1933, and the island became a federal prison in August
1934. Alcatraz was designed to hold prisoners who continuously caused trouble at other federal
prisons.[23] At 9:40 am in the morning of August 11, 1934, the first batch of 137 prisoners arrived
at Alcatraz, arriving by railroad from the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas at
Santa Venetia, California, before being escorted to Alcatraz, handcuffed in high security coaches
and guarded by some 60 special FBI agents, U.S. Marshals and railway security officials.[6][24]
Most of the prisoners were notorious bank robbers and murderers.[6] The prison initially had a
staff of 155, including the first warden James A. Johnston and associate warden J. E.
Shuttleworth, both considered to be "iron men".[6] The staff were highly trained in security, but
not rehabilitation.[6]

Cell 181 in Alcatraz where Al Capone was imprisoned

During the 29 years it was in use, the jail held some of the most notorious criminals in American
history,[6] such as Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz), George
"Machine Gun" Kelly, Bumpy Johnson, Rafael Cancel Miranda (a member of the Puerto Rican
Nationalist Party who attacked the United States Capitol building in 1954),[25] Mickey Cohen,
Arthur R. "Doc" Barker, James "Whitey" Bulger, and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis (who served more
time at Alcatraz than any other inmate). It also provided housing for the Bureau of Prisons staff
and their families.
During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed that no prisoner successfully escaped.
A total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts, two men trying twice; 23 were caught alive, six
were shot and killed during their escape, two drowned, and five are listed as "missing and
presumed drowned".[26] The most violent occurred on May 2, 1946, when a failed escape attempt
by six prisoners led to the Battle of Alcatraz.

On June 11, 1962, Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin carried out one of the most
intricate escapes ever devised.

Post-prison years
Because the penitentiary cost much more to operate than other prisons (nearly $10 per prisoner
per day, as opposed to $3 per prisoner per day at Atlanta),[27] and half a century of salt water
saturation had severely eroded the buildings, then Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy ordered
the penitentiary closed on March 21, 1963. In addition, citizens were increasingly protesting the
environmental effects of sewage released into San Francisco Bay from the approximately 250
inmates and 60 Bureau of Prisons families on the island. That year, the United States Penitentiary
in Marion, Illinois, on land, opened as the replacement facility for Alcatraz.

Native American occupation

Main article: Occupation of Alcatraz

A lingering sign of the 196971 Native American occupation (2006 Photograph).

Alcatraz Island was occupied by Native American activists for the first time on March 8, 1964.
The event was reported by, among others, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco
Examiner.[citation needed]
Beginning on November 20, 1969, a group of Native Americans called United Indians of All
Tribes, mostly college students from San Francisco, occupied the island to protest federal
policies related to American Indians. Some of them were children of Indians who had relocated
in the city as part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Termination and Relocation's programs.
The BIA hoped to get as many Indians as possible away from the Indian reservations so they
could terminate the reservations and take away the land. A number of employees of the Bureau
of Indian Affairs also occupied Alcatraz at that time, including Doris Purdy, an amateur
photographer, who later produced footage of her stay on the island.[28]
The occupiers, who stayed on the island for nearly two years, demanded the island's facilities be
adapted and new structures built for an Indian education center, ecology center and cultural
center. The American Indians claimed the island by provisions of the Treaty of Fort Laramie
(1868) between the U.S. and the Sioux; they said the treaty promised to return all retired,
abandoned or out-of-use federal lands to the Native peoples from whom it was acquired. (Note:

The Treaty of 1868 stated that all abandoned or unused federal land adjacent to the Great Sioux
Reservation could be reclaimed by descendants of the Sioux Nation.) Indians of All Tribes then
claimed Alcatraz Island by the "Right of Discovery", as indigenous peoples knew it thousands of
years before any Europeans had come to North America. Begun by urban Indians of San
Francisco, the occupation attracted other Native Americans from across the country, including
American Indian Movement (AIM) urban activists from Minneapolis.

The Alcatraz cellhouse, lighthouse, and Warden's House which was burned out during the 196971 Native American occupation.
The Native Americans demanded reparation for the many treaties broken by the US government
and for the lands which were taken from so many tribes. In discussing the Right of Discovery,
the historian Troy R. Johnson states in The Occupation of Alcatraz Island, that indigenous
peoples knew about Alcatraz at least 10,000 years before any European knew about any part of
North America.
During the nineteen months and nine days of occupation by the American Indians, several
buildings at Alcatraz were damaged or destroyed by fire, including the recreation hall, the Coast
Guard quarters and the warden's home. The origin of the fires is disputed. The U.S. government
demolished a number of other buildings (mostly apartments) after the occupation had ended.
Graffiti from the period of Native American occupation are still visible at many locations on the
island.[29]
During the occupation, President Richard Nixon rescinded the Indian termination policy,
designed by earlier administrations to end federal recognition of tribes and their special
relationship with the US government. He established a new policy of self-determination, in part
as a result of the publicity and awareness created by the occupation. The occupation ended on
June 11, 1971.[30]
In 2011 a permanent multimedia exhibit was opened on Alcatraz examining the 19-month
occupation. Located in the former band practice room in a cellblock in the basement, the space
serves as the cultural center the Native American occupiers requested upon their occupation. The
exhibit, called "We Are Still Here," features photos, videos and sound recordings gathered by
staff and students at San Francisco State University and California State University, East Bay.
Curators of the exhibit interviewed descendents of occupation leader Richard Oakes, and others
who participated.[31]

Landmarks

Main article: List of Alcatraz Island features

The entire Alcatraz Island was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976,[3] and
was further declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986.[4][32] In 1993, the National Park
Service published a plan entitled Alcatraz Development Concept and Environmental Assessment.
[33]
This plan, approved in 1980, doubled the amount of Alcatraz accessible to the public to enable
visitors to enjoy its scenery and bird, marine, and animal life.[34]

Map of Alcatraz

Baker Beach

Boat Dock

Building 64

Citadel

Dining Hall

Former Military Chapel (Bachelor Quarters)

Helipad

Library

Lighthouse

Main Cellhouse

Model Industries Building

Morgue

New Industries Building

Officers Club

Parade Grounds

Power House

Recreation Yard

Wardens House

Water Tower

Development
Today, American Indigenous groups, such as the International Indian Treaty Council, hold
ceremonies on the island, most notably, their "Sunrise Gatherings" every Columbus Day and
Thanksgiving Day.
The Global Peace Foundation proposed to raze the prison and build a peace center in its place.
During the previous year, supporters collected 10,350 signatures that placed it on the presidential
primary ballots in San Francisco for February 5, 2008.[35] The proposed plan was estimated at $1
billion. For the plan to pass, Congress would have to have taken Alcatraz out of the National
Park Service. Critics of the plan said that Alcatraz is too rich in history to be destroyed.[36] On
February 6, 2008, the Alcatraz Island Global Peace Center Proposition C failed to pass, with 72%
of voters rejecting the proposition.[37]

Fauna and flora

Habitat

Brandt's cormorant nesting on Alcatraz Island

Cisterns. A bluff that, because of its moist crevices, is believed to be an important site for
California slender salamanders.

Cliff tops at the island's north end. Containing a onetime manufacturing building and a
plaza, the area is listed as important to nesting and roosting birds.

The powerhouse area. A steep embankment where native grassland and creeping wild rye
support a habitat for deer mice.

Tide pools. A series of them, created by long-ago quarrying activities, contains stillunidentified invertebrate species and marine algae.[citation needed] They form one of the few
tide-pool complexes in the bay, according to the report.

Western cliffs and cliff tops. Rising to heights of nearly 100 feet (30 m), they provide
nesting and roosting sites for seabirds including pigeon guillemots, cormorants,
Heermann's gulls, and western gulls. harbor seals can occasionally be seen on a small
beach at the base.

The parade grounds. Carved from the hillside during the late 19th century and covered
with rubble since the government demolished guard housing in 1971, the area has
become a habitat and breeding ground for black-crowned night herons, western gulls,
slender salamanders, and deer mice.

The Agave Path, a trail named for its dense growth of agave. Located atop a shoreline
bulkhead on the south side, it provides a nesting habitat for night herons.

Alcatraz prison and its surroundings.

Flora

Flowers on Alcatraz
Gardens planted by families of the original Army post, and later by families of the prison guards,
fell into neglect after the prison closure in 1963. After 40 years, they are being restored by a paid
staff member and many volunteers, thanks to funding by the Garden Conservancy and the
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. The untended gardens had become severely
overgrown and had developed into a nesting habitat and sanctuary for numerous birds. Now,
areas of bird habitat are being preserved and protected, while many of the gardens are being
restored to their original state.
In clearing out the overgrowth, workers found that many of the original plants were growing
where they had been planted some more than 100 years ago. Numerous heirloom rose hybrids,
including a Welsh rose that had been believed to be extinct, have been discovered and
propagated. Many species of roses, succulents, and geraniums are growing among apple and fig
trees, banks of sweet peas, manicured gardens of cutting flowers, and wildly overgrown sections
of native grasses with blackberry and honeysuckle.

In popular culture
Main article: Alcatraz Island in popular culture
Alcatraz Island appears often in media and popular culture, including films dating from 1962:
The Book of Eli (2010), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Catch Me If You Can (2002), The Rock
(1996), Murder in the First (1995), Escape from Alcatraz (1979), The Enforcer (1976), Birdman
of Alcatraz (1962), and J. J. Abrams' 2012 television series Alcatraz.
It also was featured in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime, in the book Al Capone Does My
Shirts, in the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 as a playable level, and in the video game
Call of Duty: Black Ops II in a downloadable zombie survival map called "Mob of the Dead". It
is also featured as a playable racetrack in the 1996 arcade racing video game San Francisco
Rush: Extreme Racing. Alcatraz has also been portrayed often as a safe haven or base of
operations in many post-apocalyptic movies, such as The Book of Eli.
Alcatraz is featured in the episode "Bird Mummy of Alcatraz" in the show Mummies Alive
The Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary or United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island (often just
referred to as Alcatraz) was a maximum high-security federal prison on Alcatraz Island, 1.25

miles (2.01 km) off the coast of San Francisco, California, USA, which operated from 1934 to
1963.
The main prison building was built in 191012 during its time as a United States Army military
prison; Alcatraz had been the site of a citadel since the 1860s. The United States Disciplinary
Barracks, Pacific Branch on Alcatraz was acquired by the United States Department of Justice on
October 12, 1933, and the island became a prison of the Federal Bureau of Prisons in August
1934 after the buildings were modernized to meet the requirements of a top-notch security
prison. Given this high security and the location of Alcatraz in the cold waters and strong
currents of San Francisco Bay, the prison operators believed Alcatraz to be escape-proof and
America's strongest prison.
Alcatraz was designed to hold prisoners who continuously caused trouble at other federal
prisons. One of the world's most notorious and best known prisons over the years, Alcatraz
housed some 1,576 of America's most ruthless criminals including Al Capone, Robert Franklin
Stroud (the "Birdman of Alcatraz"), George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Bumpy Johnson, Rafael
Cancel Miranda,[3] Mickey Cohen, Arthur R. "Doc" Barker, and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis (who
served more time at Alcatraz than any other inmate). It also provided housing for the Bureau of
Prisons staff and their families. A total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts during the 29
years of the prison's existence, the most notable of which were the violent escape attempt of May
1946 known as the "Battle of Alcatraz", and the arguably successful "Escape from Alcatraz" by
Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin in June 1962 in one of the most intricate
escapes ever devised. Faced with high maintenance costs and a poor reputation, Alcatraz closed
on March 21, 1963.
The three-story cellhouse included the main four blocks of the jail, A-Block, B-Block, C-Block,
and D-Block, the warden's office, visitation room, the library, and the barber shop. The prison
cells typically measured 9 feet (2.7 m) by 5 feet (1.5 m) and 7 feet (2.1 m) high. The cells were
primitive and lacked privacy, with a bed, a desk and a washbasin and toilet on the back wall,
with few furnishings except a blanket. African-Americans were segregated from the rest in cell
designation due to racial abuse being prevalent. D-Block housed the worst inmates and five cells
at the end of it were designated as "The Hole", where badly behaving prisoners would be sent for
periods of punishment, often brutally so. The dining hall and kitchen lay off the main building in
an extended part where both prisoners and staff would eat three meals a day together. The
Alcatraz Hospital was above the dining hall.
Corridors of the prison were named after major American streets such as Broadway and
Michigan Avenue. Working at the prison was considered a privilege for inmates and many of the
better inmates were employed in the Model Industries Building and New Industries Building
during the day, actively involved in providing for the military in jobs such as sewing and
woodwork and performing various maintenance and laundry chores.

Today the penitentiary is a public museum and one of San Francisco's major tourist attractions,
attracting some 1.5 million visitors annually. The former prison is now operated by the National
Park Service's Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and the badly eroding buildings of the
former prison have been subject to restoration works in recent times and maintained.
Contents
[hide]

1 History
o

1.1 Construction

1.2 Early history

1.3 Notoriety

1.4 Final years

1.5 Escape attempts

1.5.1 Battle of Alcatraz

1.5.2 "Escape from Alcatraz"

2 Administration
o

2.1 Security

2.2 Wardens

3 Prison life and the cells

o

3.1 Corridors

3.2 A-Block

3.3 B-Block

3.4 D-Block

3.5 Dining

3.6 Recreation

4 Other buildings

4.1 Warden's House

4.2 Building 64

4.3 Social Hall

4.4 Power House

4.5 Alcatraz Water Tower

4.6 Model Industries Building

4.7 New Industries Building

5 Notable inmates

6 Legends

7 In popular culture

8 References

9 Bibliography

10 External links

History[edit]
Construction[edit]

Alcatraz Island

The main cellhouse was originally the location of the cellhouse for the military citadel and prison
which existed on Alcatraz from the 1860s. A new cellhouse was built in 191012 on a budget of
$250,000 and upon completion, the 500 feet (150 m) long concrete building was reputedly the
longest concrete building in the world at the time.[4] In 193334 this building remained, but was
modernized and became the main cellhouse of the Federal Penitentiary until it was closed in

1963.[5]:76 When the new concrete prison was built in 191012, many materials were reused in its
construction. Iron staircases in the interior and the cellhouse door near the barber's shop at the
end of A-Block were retained from the old citadel and massive granite blocks originally used as
gun mounts were reused as the wharf's bulkheads and retaining walls.[6][7] Many of the old cell
bars were used to reinforce the walls, causing structural problems later due to the fact that many
placed near the edge were subject to erosion from the salt air and wind over the years.[7]

Entrance

After the U.S. Army's use of the island for over 80 years (18501933), the island came under the
jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice for use by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The
purpose of this transfer was to punish those involved in the rampant crime which prevailed in the
country in the 1920s and 1930s.[8] The United States Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz was
acquired by the United States Department of Justice on October 12, 1933, and the island became
a Federal Bureau of Prisons federal prison in August 1934. The $260,000 conversion to the
federal prison took place from January 1934.[9][10] Dr. George Hess of the United States Public
Health Service was appointed the chief medical officer of the prison and Dr. Edward W.
Twitchell became a consultant in psychiatry for Alcatraz in January 1934.[10] The hospital
facilities were checked by three officials from the Marine Hospital of San Francisco.[10] The
Bureau of Prisons personnel arrived on Alcatraz in early February; among them was Loring O.
Mills, acting chief clerk. In April 1934, the old material was removed from the prison, holes were
cut in the concrete and 269 cell fronts were installed, built using four carloads of steel ordered
from the Stewart Iron Works.[10] A legend at the works is that a shipment of cells and iron
accidentally fell into San Francisco Bay during transportation from San Francisco Dock to
Alcatraz and were never recovered, thus had to be reordered.[11] Two of four new stairways were
built, as were 12 doors to the utility corridors and gratings at the top of the cells. On April 26, an
accidental small fire broke out on the roof and an electrician injured his foot by dropping a
manhole cover on it.[10] Fencing around Alcatraz was added by the Anchor Post Fence Company

and emergency lighting in the morgue and switchboard operations were added by the Enterprise
Electric Works.[10] In June 1934, the Teletouch Corporation of New York began the installation of
an "electro-magnetic gun or metal detecting system" at Alcatraz; detectors were added on the
wharf, at the front entrance into the cellblock, and at the rear entrance gate.[10] The correctional
officers were instructed how to operate the new locking devices on July 30, 1934, and the new
radio equipment was tested by both the United States Coast Guard and the San Francisco Police
Department on the same day.[10] Final checks and assessments were made on the first two days of
August.[10]
Early history[edit]

Alcatraz laundry service

Alcatraz was designed to hold prisoners who continuously caused trouble at other federal
prisons, a "last resort prison" to hold the worst of the worst criminals who had no hope of
rehabilitation.[12][13] At 9:40 am on August 11, 1934, the first batch of 137 prisoners arrived at
Alcatraz, arriving by railroad from the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas at
Santa Venetia, California, before being escorted to Alcatraz, handcuffed in high security coaches
and guarded by some 60 FBI Special Agents, U.S. Marshals, and railway security officials.[10][14]
Some 32 detainees from the original military prison were reported to have been amongst the first
inmates.[6] Most of the prisoners were notorious bank robbers and counterfeiters, murderers, or
sodomites.[14] Amongst the first inmates were also 14 men from McNeil Island, Washington.[10] On
August 22, 43 prisoners arrived from Atlanta Penitentiary and 10 from North Eastern
Penitentiary, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.[10] On September 1, one prisoner arrived from Washington
Asylum and Jail and seven from the District of Columbia Reformatory in Virginia, and on
September 4, another batch of 103 prisoners arrived by train from Leavenworth.[10] Prisoners
continued to arrive, mainly from Leavenworth and Atlanta in 1935 and by June 30, 1935, the
penitentiary had a population of 242 prisoners, although some prisoners such as Verrill Rapp had
already been transferred from Alcatraz some months earlier.[10] On the first anniversary as a
federal penitentiary, on June 30, 1935, the Bureau of Prisons observed that: "The establishment
of this institution not only provided a secure place for the detention of the more difficult type of
criminal but has had a good effect upon discipline in our other penitentiaries also. No serious
disturbance of any kind has been reported during the year." The metal detectors initially caused a
problem by overheating and often had to be turned off. After the failure of the Teletouch

Corporation to amend the problem, in 1937 their contract was terminated and they were charged
over $200 for three new detectors supplied by Federal Laboratories.[10]
On January 10, 1935, a severe storm caused a landslide on Alcatraz, causing the Model
Industries Building to slide.[10] This marked the start of a series of changes to the structures on the
island. A riprap was built around it and it was strengthened and a guard tower added to the roof
in June 1936, and the same month the barracks building was remodeled into 11 new apartments
and nine single rooms for bachelors; by this time there were 52 families living on Alcatraz
Island, including 126 women and children.[10] The problems with the industries building and
continuing utility problems with some of the old buildings and systems led to extensive updates
in 1937, including new tool-proof grills on the ventilators on the roof of the cell house, two new
boilers installed in the power house and a new pump for salt water sanitation and guardrails
added to stairways.[10] In 193940, a $1.1 million redevelopment was under swing, including
construction of the New Industries Building, a complete overhaul of the power house with a new
diesel engine, the building of a new water tower to solve the water storage problem, new
apartment blocks for officers, improvements to the dock, and the conversion of D-block into
isolation cells.[10] The changes were completed in July 1941. The workshops of the New
Industries Building became highly productive in the making of army uniforms and cargo nets
and other items which were in high demand during World War II and in June 1945 it was
reported that the federal penitentiaries had made 60,000 nets.[10]
Notoriety[edit]

Henri Young, who was tried for the murder of a fellow inmate in 1941

Alcatraz gained notoriety from its inception as the toughest prison in America and considered by
many to be the world's most fearsome prison of the time, and former prisoners would frequently
report acts of brutality and inhumane conditions which severely tested their sanity.[15][16][17] Ed
Wutke was the first prisoner to commit suicide in Alcatraz. Rufe Persful chopped off his fingers
after grabbing an axe from the firetruck, begging another inmate to do the same to his other
hand.[17] One writer described Alcatraz as "the great garbage can of San Francisco Bay, into which
every federal prison dumped its most rotten apples."[18] In 1939 the new U.S. Attorney General
Frank Murphy attacked the penitentiary, saying "The whole institution is conductive to
psychology that builds up a sinister ambitious attitude among prisoners."[10] The reputation of the

prison was not helped by the arrival of more of America's most dangerous crooks including
Robert Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz", in 1942, who spent 17 years at Alcatraz. Like a
songbirds call, Stroud was complex. He was also a pimp, a raging psychopath and impulsive
murderer whose hazard reduced only with age. He entered the prison system at age 19, and never
left. Stroud killed a guard, tangled with other inmates and spent 42 of his 54 years in prison in
solitary confinement.
While Stroud was a birdman, his scientific inquiry all took place at Fort Leavenworth, not
Alcatraz as the myth goes. Ironically, he wasnt allowed to pursue avian science, or even harbor
birds, at the timeless bird habitat that is Alcatraz Island.[19]
However, somewhat contradicting its reputation and the fact that many former inmates named it
"Hellcatraz" based on its horrors, some prisoners reported that the living conditions in Alcatraz
were much better than most other prisons in the country, especially the food, and many
volunteered to come to Alcatraz.[8]
On December 3, 1940, Henri Young murdered fellow inmate Rufus McCain by running
downstairs from the Furniture Shop to the Tailor's Shop where McCain worked and violently
stabbing McCain in the neck; McCain died five hours later.[10] Young had been sentenced to
Alcatraz for murder in 1933 and he was involved in an escape attempt at Alcatraz during which
famous gangster Doc Barker was shot to death. He spent nearly twenty-two months in solitary
confinement as a result but later earned a right to work in the Furniture Shop. He went on trial in
1941, which brought Alcatraz into further disrepute as Young's attorneys claimed he could not be
held responsible for his murder as he had endured a "cruel and unusual punishment" prior to it in
torment by the prison guards.[10] Young was convicted of manslaughter and his prison sentence
only extended by a few years.

From left to right: Warden James A. Johnston, Associate Warden E.J. Miller, District
Attorney Frank J. Hennessy
Final years[edit]

By the 1950s, the prison conditions had improved and prisoners were gradually permitted more
privileges such as the playing of musical instruments, watching movies at weekends, painting,
and radio use; the strict code of silence became more relaxed and prisoners were permitted to
talk quietly.[17] However, the prison continued to be unpopular on the mainland into the 1950s; it
was by far the most expensive prison institution in the United States and continued to be

perceived by many as America's most extreme jail.[20][10] In his annual report for 1952, Director
James V. Bennett called for a more centralized institution to replace Alcatraz.[10] A 1959 report
indicated that Alcatraz was more than three times more expensive to run than the average US
prison; $10 per prisoner per day compared to $3 in most other prisons.[21] The problem of Alcatraz
was exacerbated by the fact that the prison had seriously deteriorated structurally in exposure to
the salt air and wind and would need $5 million to deal with it. Major repairs began in 1958 but
by 1961 the prison was evaluated by engineers to be a lost cause and Robert F. Kennedy
submitted plans for a new maximum-security institution at Marion, Illinois.[10] After the escape
from Alcatraz in June 1962, the prison was the subject of heated investigations, and with the
major structural problems and ongoing expense, the prison finally closed on 21 March 1963.[21]
The final Bureau of Prisons report said of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary: "The institution served
an important purpose in taking the strain off the older and greatly overcrowded institutions in
Atlanta, Leavenworth and McNeil Island since it enabled us to move to the smaller, closely
guarded institution for the escape artists, the big-time racketeers, the inveterate connivers and
those who needed protection from other groups."[10]
Today the penitentiary is a museum and one of San Francisco's major tourist attractions,
attracting some 1.5 million visitors annually.[22][23] Visitors arrive by boat at the port, and are given
a tour of the cellhouse and island, and are given a slide show and audio narration with anecdotes
from former inmates, guards and rangers on Alcatraz.[24] The atmosphere of the former
penitentiary is still considered to be "eerie" , "ghostly" and "chilling".[24] Protected by the
National Park Service and the National Register of Historic Places, the badly eroding buildings
of the former prison have been subject to restoration works in recent times and maintained.[25]
Escape attempts[edit]
Main article: List of Alcatraz escape attempts

Alcatraz Island from San Francisco, March 1962

According to the Correctional Officers, once a convict arrived on the Alcatraz wharf, his first
thoughts were on how to leave.[26] During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed that
no prisoner successfully escaped. A total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts, two men
trying twice; 23 were caught, six were shot and killed during their escape, two drowned, and five
are listed as "missing and presumed drowned".[27]
The first unsuccessful attempt to escape the prison was made on April 27, 1936 by Joseph
Bowers, who was assigned the duty of burning trash at the incinerator. He tried to escape during
duty hours by scaling a chain link fence at the edge of the island. When he was caught in this act

and refused orders of the correctional officer located at the West road guard tower to come down
he was shot. He was seriously injured in the fall from over 15 m (50 ft) and consequently died.[8]
The first escape attempt to shatter Alcatraz's reputation as an "escape-proof" prison was made on
December 16, 1937 by Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe. During their work assignment in one of
the workshops they cut the flat iron bars of the window and climbed into the bay waters to
escape. It was a stormy day and the bay water was highly turbulent. As the escapees were not
found, they were declared drowned by the Prison authorities as it was conjectured that they
drowned in the bay and their bodies swept out into the sea due to the turbulent bay currents.[8]
Battle of Alcatraz[edit]
Main article: Battle of Alcatraz

Bernard Coy, Marvin Hubbard and Joseph Cretzer were killed in the Battle of
Alcatraz.

Carnes, Shockley and Thompson on way to court for trial in the Battle of Alcatraz

The most violent escape attempt occurred on May 24, 1946, when a failed attempt by six
prisoners led to the Battle of Alcatraz, also known as the "Alcatraz Blastout". It was carried out
by six prisoners; Bernard Coy, Joseph Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Clarence Carnes, Marvin Hubbard
and Miran Thompson. They daringly took control of the cell house by overpowering
Correctional officers and captured the weapons room and keys to the recreation yard door. Their
aim was to escape by boat from the dock, but when they failed to obtain the keys to the outside
door, they decided to battle it out. In the fight that ensued they managed to hold two correctional

officers hostage whom they eventually killed after two days. Prompted by Shockley and
Thompson, Cretzer shot the hostages at very close range. One of the guards, William Miller,
succumbed to his injuries while the second guard, Harold Stites, was also killed at the cellhouse.
Although Shockley, Thompson, and Carnes returned to their cells, the other three, Coy, Cretzer
and Hubbard, persisted with their fight. The U.S. Marines intervened to help the correctional
officers and killed the three prisoners. In this battle, apart from the guards and prisoners killed,
17 other guards and one prisoner were also injured. Shockley, Thompson, and Carnes were tried
for the killing of the correctional officers. Shockley and Thompson were sentenced to death
through the gas chamber, which was carried out at San Quentin in December 1948. However,
Carnes, who was only 19 years of age, was given a second life sentence.[8][28]
"Escape from Alcatraz"[edit]

On June 11, 1962, Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin carried out one of the most
intricate escapes ever devised. Behind the prisoners' cells in Cell Block B (where the escapees
were interned) was an unguarded 3-foot (0.91 m) wide utility corridor. The prisoners chiselled
away the moisture-damaged concrete from around an air vent leading to this corridor, using tools
such as a metal spoon soldered with silver from a dime and an electric drill improvised from a
stolen vacuum cleaner motor. The noise was disguised by accordions played during music hour,
and the progress was concealed by false walls which, in the dark recesses of the cells, fooled the
guards.[8]

Side view of model head found in Frank Morriss cell

The escape route led up through a fan vent; the prisoners removed the fan and motor, replacing
them with a steel grill and leaving a shaft large enough for a prisoner to enter. Stealing a
carborundum abrasive cord from the prison workshop, the prisoners removed the rivets from the
grill. In their beds, they placed papier-mch dummies made with human hair stolen from the
barbershop. The escapees also constructed an inflatable raft over many weeks from over 50
stolen raincoats, which they prepared on the top of the cellblock, concealed from the guards by
sheets which had been put up over the sides. They escaped through a vent in the roof and
departed Alcatraz.[8][28]
The official investigation by the FBI was aided by another prisoner, Allen West, who was part of
the escapees' group but was left behind. West's false wall kept slipping so he held it in place with

cement, which set. When Morris and the Anglins accelerated the schedule, West desperately
chipped away at the wall, but by the time he got out, his companions were gone. Articles
belonging to the prisoners, including plywood paddles and parts of the raincoat raft were
discovered on nearby Angel Island. The FBI's investigation from 1962 to December 1979 was
finally treated as closed.[29] The official report on the escape concludes that the prisoners drowned
in the cold waters of the bay while trying to reach the mainland, it being unlikely that they made
it the 1.25 miles to shore due to the strong ocean currents and the cold sea water temperatures
ranging between 50 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit.[8][28]
However, The U.S. Marshals Service still list the Anglins and Morris as wanted fugitives and
have Wanted Posters for each man. A 2014 study of the ocean currents by scientists at Delft
University and the research institute Deltares indicates that a craft leaving Alcatraz at 11:30pm
on June 11, 1962, would most likely have landed just north of the Golden Gate Bridge and
indicate that debris would have washed up on Angel Island, consistent with where it was actually
found.[30] A 2015 History Channel documentary presented further circumstantial evidence
gathered over the years by the Anglin brothers' family, including Christmas cards allegedly sent
by the brothers for three years after their escape. It featured an interview with family friend Fred
Brizzi, who claimed to have met the brothers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1975. To support his
story, he offered a photograph of two men resembling John and Clarence Anglin, taken, he said,
during the encounter. A facial recognition analyst who had examined the photo asserted that the
two men were "more than likely" the Anglins.[31][32] The film also presented an alternate escape
theory, involving the use of an electrical cord, which was reported missing from the prison's
dock, tied to a passenger ferry that left the island just after midnight on the night of the men's
escape.[33]
The 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz depicts the escape. It stars Clint Eastwood, Fred Ward, and
Jack Thibeau as Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin, respectively. Allen West was
played by Larry Hankin; his character's name was changed to Charley Butts. The film implied
that the escape had been successful.[34]
Administration[edit]

Admin offices of Alcatraz

The prison initially had a staff of 155, including the first warden James A. Johnston and associate
warden Cecil J. Shuttleworth, both considered to be "iron men".[14] None of the staff were trained
in rehabilitation but highly trained in security.[14] The guards and staff of Alcatraz were subject to
varying salaries. A new guard arriving in December 1948 was offered $3024.96 per annum, but
there was a 6% deduction for retirement taxes a year amounting to $181.50.[35] The guards
typically worked 40-hour weeks; five 8-hour shifts.[35] Guards who worked between 6 pm and 6
am were given a 10% increase and guards doing overtime had to be reported and authorized by
the warden.[35] Officers generally had to pay 25 cents for meals and were charged $10 to rent an
apartment on the island, to include laundry service, although larger families were charged
anything from $2043 a month for larger quarters and charged additional for laundry.[35] In 1960,
a Bureau of Prisons booklet revealed that the average prison population between 1935 and 1960
was 263; the highest recorded was 302 in 1937 and the lowest recorded was 222 in 1947.[36]
Casefile of a prisoner from the Warden's notebook

The main centre for administration was at the entrance to the prison, which included the warden's
office. The office contained a desk with radio and telegraph equipment, typewriter, and a
telephone.[37] The administrative office section also had the offices of the associate warden and
secretary, mail desk, captain's desk, a business office, a clerk's office, an accounting office, a
control room which was added with modern technology in 1961, the officer's lounge, armory and
vault, and a visitation centre and restrooms.
The basement of Alcatraz prison contained dungeons and the showers.[38] The main stairway to
the dungeon lay along Sunrise Alley at the side of A-Block, but the dungeons were also
accessible by a staircase in a trapdoor along the corridor of D-Block. All visits to Alcatraz
required prior written approval from the warden.[39]
A hospital had originally been installed at Alcatraz during its time as a military prison in the late
19th century.[40] During its time as a Federal Penitentiary it was located above the dining hall on
the second floor. Hospital staff were U.S. Public Health Service employees assigned to the
Federal Prison Service at Alcatraz.[41] Doctors often lasted fewer than several days or months at
Alcatraz, due to the fact that few of them could tolerate the violent inmates who would often
terrify them if they failed to be given certain drugs.[41] Prisoners in ill health were often kept in the
hospital, most famously, Stroud and Al Capone, who spent years in it.[42][43]
Security[edit]

Gun Gallery

With the Bureau of Prisons taking over the Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary on January 1,
1934, it marked the beginning of a series of measures to strengthen the security of the prison
cells to make Alcatraz an "escape-proof" maximum security prison, and also improving the
living conditions for the operation and maintenance staff and officers, apart from the prisoners.
Modern technological innovations available at the time for enhancing security and comfort were
built into the buildings. Security guard towers were built outside at four strategic locations, cells
were rebuilt and fitted with "tool-proof steel cell fronts and locking devices operated from
control boxes", and windows were made secure with iron grills. Electromagnetic metal detectors
placed in the entrance of the dining hall and workshops, with remote controlled tear gas canisters
at appropriate locations, remote controlled gun galleries with machine gun armed guards were
installed to patrol along the corridors. Improvements were made to the toilet and electricity
facilities, old tunnels were sealed up with concrete to avoid hiding and escape by prisoners, and
substantial changes and improvements were made to the housing facilities of guards, wardens
and Captain to live with their families, with quality relative to rank. Homer Cummings, U.S.
Attorney General, Sanford Bates, first Director of the Bureau of Prisons, and Warden Johnston
collaborated very closely to create "a legendary prison" suited to the times, which resulted in the
Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary being nicknamed "Uncle Sam's Devil's Island."[44]

Guards of Alcatraz

Despite Alcatraz being designed to house the "worst of the worst" of criminals who caused
problems at other prisons, under the guidelines and regulations set by the strict prison
administrators, courts could not direct a prisoner to be directly sent to Alcatraz, however
notorious they were for misbehavior and attempted escape from other prisons.[44] Prisoners

entering Alcatraz would undergo vigorous research and assessments prior to their arrival.
Security in the prison was very tight, with the constant checking of bars, doors, locks, electrical
fixtures etc., to ensure that security hadn't been broken.[45] During a standard day the prisoners
would be counted 13 times, and the ratio of prisoners to guards was the lowest of any American
prison of the time.[46][47] The front door was made of solid steel, virtually impossible for any
prisoners to escape through.[48] The island had many guard towers, most of which have since been
demolished, which were heavily guarded at various points in the day at times when security may
have been breached; for instance there were guard towers on each of the industry buildings to
ensure that inmates didn't attempt to escape during the work day shifts. The recreation yard and
other parts of the prison had a 25 ft fence around it topped with barbed wire,[15] should any
inmates attempt to escape during exercise. One former employee of the jail likened his prison job
to being a zoo keeper or his old farm job, due to the fact that prisoners were not to be
rehabilitated or educated and treated like animals, sending them out to "plough the fields" when
some of them worked during the day, and then counting them up and feeding them and so on.[45]
He referred to those 4 years of his life working in the prison as a "total waste of his life".[45] The
corridors were regularly patrolled by the guards, with passing gates along them; the most heavily
trafficked was "Broadway" between B and C Block, due to its being the central corridor of the
prison and passed not only by guards but other prison workers.[49]
At the end of each 20 minute meal in the dining hall, the forks, spoons and knives were laid out
on the table and carefully counted to ensure that nothing had been taken as a potential weapon. In
the earlier years as a prison, prisoners were forbidden from talking while eating, but this was
later relaxed, provided that the prisoners communicated quietly.[45] [50]
The gun gallery was situated in the Recreation Yard and mounted on one of the dining hall's
exterior walls.[51] There was a metal detector outside of the dining hall for security purposes. The
dining hall had tear-gas canisters attached to the rafters of the ceiling which could be activated
by remote control, should prisoners riot or attempt to escape.[52][16] The first warden, James A.
Johnston, always entered the dining hall alone and unarmed, due to heavy guarding around him.
[53]
Several riots did break out in the dining hall during Alcatraz's history. Those prisoners who
were not involved in the fighting hid under the dining hall tables to escape possible gunfire.[54]
Wardens[edit]
Image

Name Term

Summary

James A. 1934 James Aloysius Johnston (1874-1954) (nickname

Johnston 48 "Old Saltwater") [55] was the first warden of Alcatraz.
The former Warden of Folsom and San Quentin, it was
Johnston who was instrumental in the development of
the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary as a prison and was
involved in the design of it as a federal prison in 1934.
[55]
He was considered to be a highly strict
disciplinarian and a devout reformist who imposed a
number of rules upon the prison including a strict code

of silence, which led to him being nicknamed the

'Golden Rule Warden' from his San Quentin days. [55]
However, he was relatively popular among inmates
and guards, known as "Old Saltwater" to the inmates,
and is credited with challenging the barbaric tactics
used in the prison when he was there, including strait
jackets and solitary confinement in darkness and
working towards the general improvement of the lives
of prisoners. In 1937 he was attacked by Burton
Phillips from behind in the dining hall who beat him in
anger at a worker's strike, but he continued to attend
meals unguarded.[55]
Edwin Burnham Swope (18881955) (nickname
"Cowboy") was the second warden of Alcatraz. His
earlier posts as warden included New Mexico State
Prison and Washington State's McNeil Island Federal
Edwin B. 1948 Penitentiary. He was described as being approximately
Swope 55 1.73 meter (5 feet 9 inches) tall, of slender build, and
was a fan of horse racing who dressed like a cowboy
off-duty.[56] He was a strict disciplinarian but unlike his
predecessor was considered the most unpopular
warden of Alcatraz with his officers and the inmates. [57]

Paul Joseph Madigan (1897-1974) was the third warden of

Alcatraz. He had earlier served as the last Associate Warden
during the term of James A. Johnston.[58] He has been cited as
the only warden who had worked his way up from the bottom
of the ranks of the prison staff hierarchy, having worked
originally as a Correctional Officer on Alcatraz from the
[59][57]
In May 21, 1941, Madigan was the key to quashing
Paul J.
1955 1930s.
Madigan 61 an escape attempt after being held hostage in the Model
Industries Building, which later led to his promotion as
associate warden.[58] He was a stout, ruddy-faced, pipesmoking, devout Irish Catholic.[60] Unlike his predecessors,
Madigan was known for being more lenient and softer in his
approach to administering the prison and was better liked by
the prison staff.[59]

Olin Guy Blackwell (19151986) was the fourth and final

warden of Alcatraz. Associate Warden to Paul J. Madigan from
April 1959,[58] Blackwell served as warden of Alcatraz at its
most difficult time from 1961 to 1963 when it was facing
closure as a decaying prison with financing problems,
coinciding with the timing of the infamous June 1962 escape
from Alcatraz. At the time of the 1962 escape he was on
Olin G.
1961 vacation in Lake Berryessa in Napa County, and he didn't
Blackwel
63 believe the men could have survived the waters and made it to
l
shore.[61] Blackwell was considered to have been the least strict
warden of Alcatraz, perhaps in part due to him having been a
heavy drinker and smoker, nicknamed "Gypsy" and known as
"Blackie" to his friends.[58] He was said to have been an
excellent marksman who had earlier served as Associate
Warden of Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary.[58]
Prison life and the cells[edit]

Side of cellhouse

Chiseled cell air vent in Alcatraz

Band practice in the dining hall in the 1950s

An inmate register reveals that there were 1,576 prisoners in total held at Alcatraz during its time
as a Federal Penitentiary, although figures reported have varied and some have stated 1557.[62][63]
The prison cells, purposefully designed so that none adjoined an outside wall,[16] typically
measured 9 feet (2.7 m) by 5 feet (1.5 m) and 7 feet (2.1 m) high.[64] The cells were primitive with
a bed, a desk and a washbasin and toilet on the back wall and few furnishings except a blanket.[64]
An air vent, measuring 6 inches (150 mm) by 9 inches (230 mm), covered by a metal grill, lay at
the back of the cells which led into the utility corridors. [64] Prisoners had no privacy in going to
the toilet and the toilets would emit a strong stench because they were flushed with salt water.
Hot water faucets were not installed until the early 1960s, shortly before closure.[64]
The penitentiary established a very strict regimen of rules and regulations under the title "the
Rules and Regulations for the Government and Discipline of the United States Penal and
Correctional Institutions" and also a "Daily Routine of Work and Counts" to be followed by the
prisoners and also the guards; copies of these were provided to the prisoners to read and follow.
Inmates were basically entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention. Anything else
was seen as a privilege. Inmates were given a blue shirt, grey pants (blue and white in later
years[62]), cotton long underwear, socks and a blue handkerchief; the wearing of caps was
forbidden in the cellhouse.[64] Cells were expected to be kept tidy and in good order. Any
dangerous article found in the cells or on inmates such as money, narcotics, intoxicating
substances or tools which had the potential to inflict injury or assist in an escape attempt was
considered contraband and made the prisoners eligible for disciplinary action.[62] It was
compulsory for prisoners to shave in their cells three times a week. Attempting to bribe,
intimidate, or assault prison officers was seen as a very serious offense.[62] African-Americans
were segregated from the rest in cell designation due to racial abuse being prevalent.[65] Toilet
paper, matches, soap, and cleanser were issued to the cells on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and
inmates could request hot water and a mop to clean their cells.[62] The bars, windows and floors of
the prison were cleaned on a daily basis.[65] In earlier years there was a strict code of silence but
by the 1950s this had relaxed and talking was permitted in the cellhouse and dining hall provided
conversations were quiet and there was no shouting, loud talking, whistling or singing.[62]

Plan of the main cellhouse

A page from the "Institution Rules and Regulations of the United States Penitentiary,
Alcatraz Island," (1956)

Prisoners would be woken at 6:30 am, and sent to breakfast at 6:55. After returning to the cell,
inmates then had to tidy their cell and place the waste basket outside.[62] At 7:30 work started in
the shifts for those privileged enough to do so, punctuated by a whistle, and prisoners would
have to go through a metal detector during work shifts.[45] If assigned a job, prisoners had to
accept that line of work; prisoners were not permitted to have money in their possessions but
earnings went into a prisoner's Trust Fund.[62] Some of the prisoners were assigned duties with the
guards and foremen in the Laundry, Tailor Shop, Cobblers Shop, Model Shop etc. and in
gardening and labor. Smoking, a privilege, was permitted in the workplace providing there
wasn't any hazardous condition, but inmates were not permitted to smoke between the recreation
yard and work. Lunch was served at 11:20, followed by a 30-minute rest in the cell, before
returning to work until 16:15.[45] Dinner was served at 16:25 and the prisoners would then retire
to their cells to be locked in for the night at 16:50, and lights went off at 21:30.[45][66] After being
locked in for the night, 6 guards usually patrolled the four cell blocks.[65] Many prisoners have
compared their duration at Alcatraz to hell and would have preferred death to continued
incarceration.[67]

Alcatraz Library was located at the end of D-Block. Upon entering Alcatraz, every inmate was
given a library card and a catalog of books found in the library; inmates could place orders by
putting a slip with their card in a box at the entrance to the dining hall before breakfast, and the
books would be delivered to and from their cell by a librarian.[68][69][66] The library, which utilized a
closed-stack paging system, had a collection of 10,000 to 15,000 books, mainly left over from
the army days.[70][69][66] Inmates were permitted a maximum of three books in addition to up to 12
text books, a Bible, and a dictionary.[66] They were permitted to subscribe to magazines but crimerelated pages were torn out and newspapers were prohibited.[69] Sex, crime and violence were
censored from all books and magazines, and the library was governed by a chaplain who
regulated the censorship and the nature of the reading material to ensure that the material was
wholesome.[66] [70] Failure to return books by the date given made the inmate liable to removal of
privileges.[66] The average prisoner read 75 to 100 books a year.[71] Every evening, inmates would
generally read books loaned from the library and usually an hour or 75 minutes was allocated to
the practicing of musical instruments, from the guitar to the accordion. A prison band often
practiced in the dining room or auditorium above it; Al Capone famously practiced the banjo in
the shower block, although most prisoners were limited to playing in their cells alone.[72]
Corridors[edit]

"Broadway"

Alcatraz cellhouse had a corridor naming system named after major American streets and
landmarks. Michigan Avenue was the corridor to the side of A-Block, and Broadway was the
central corridor in which the inmates would assemble as they massed through Times Square (an
area with a clock on the wall), before entering the dining hall for their meals. Broadway
separated Block-B and Block-C and prisoners kept along it had the least privacy in the prison.[73]
The corridor between Block-C and the library was called Park Avenue.[73] The corridor in DBlock was named Sunset Strip. Gun galleries lay at the end of each block, including the West and
East Gun Galleries.[5]:76
A-Block[edit]

Due to the fact that during the time as a federal penitentiary no inmates were ever permanently
held here, A-Block was never modernized, so retained its "flat strap-iron bars, key locks and
spiral staircases" from the original military prison.[74] Several inmates, however, were held briefly
in A-Block before a hearing or transfer.[74] In the later years of the state penitentiary, the A-Block

was mainly used for extra storage and a law library was installed here at one point and it was a
place where inmates could type legal documents.[74] A small barber's shop was located at the end
of A-block where inmates would have a monthly haircut.[74]
B-Block[edit]

The majority of the new inmates in Alcatraz were assigned to the second tier of B-Block.[75] They
had "quarantine status" for their first three months in confinement in Alcatraz, and were not
permitted visitors for a minimum of 90 days.[75][76] Inmates were permitted one visitor a month,
although anybody likely to cause trouble such as registered criminals were barred from visiting.
Letters received by inmates were checked by prison staff first, to see if they could decipher any
secret messages.[13][77] Frank Morris and his fellow escapees escaped Alcatraz during the June
1962 escape from Alcatraz by entering a utility corridor behind B-Block.[5]:120

C-Block
D-Block[edit]

An exterior view looking towards the end of D-Block, the dining hall and kitchen are
on the left

D-Block gained notoriety as a "Treatment block" for some of the worst inmates, with varying
degrees of punishment, including Isolation, Solitary and Strip.[78] Prisoners usually spent anything
from 3 to 19 days in Solitary.[78] Prisoners held here would be given their meals in their cells and
not permitted to work and only shower twice a week. After a 1939 escape attempt in which
Arthur "Doc" Barker was killed, the Bureau of Prisons tightened security in the D-Block. The
Birdman of Alcatraz inhabited cell 42 in D-Block in solitary confinement for 6 years.

D-Block

The worst cells for confinement as a punishment for inmates who stepped out of line were
located at the end of D-Block in cells 914, known as "The Hole".[79] The cells were devoid of
light and colder than the rest of the prison, and prisoners sent here were regularly stripped,
beaten, and tortured and often starved, forced to sleep on the cold concrete floor wearing nothing
but light underwear.[80][79] In turn, guards were abused, and often had faeces, urine or food thrown
at them or were spat at.[78] Inmates held in the hole were limited to just one 10-minute shower and
an hour of exercise in the yard a week.[81][78] The five cells of "The Hole" had nothing but a sink
and toilet and the very worst cell was nicknamed "The Oriental" or "Strip Cell", the final cell of
the block with nothing but a hole in the floor as a toilet, in which prisoners would often be
confined naked with nothing else for two days.[73][78] The guards controlled the flushing of the
toilet in that cell.[10] A hatchway in the floor on D-Block also led to the dungeon in the basement
which contained several cells. The worst behaved inmates would be locked inside their cells in
the dungeon, chained to the walls.[80] They were given a meager diet of bread and water each day,
and one regular meal every three days, although the quantity and duration often varied relative to
the extent of the punishment. Denied of proper toilet facilities,[80] they were given a bucket as a
toilet, emptied once a week, and stripped and chained to the wall standing at nights; according to
Alvin J. Esau, prisoners in solitary confinement were "placed on a starvation diet and made to
stand nine hours each day with hands tied and their feet barely touching the floor."[82] After
completing the punishment in the hole, the prisoner could then return to his cell but be tagged; a
red tag, third grade, denoted a prisoner who was restricted from leaving his cell for perhaps 3
months.[45] At second grade the prisoners could receive letters, and if after 30 days they remained
behaved, they would then be restored full prison privileges.[45]
"Its size was approximately that of a regular cell-9 feet by 5 feet by about 7 feet high. I could just
touch the ceiling by stretching out my arm... You are stripped nude and pushed into the cell.
Guards take your clothes and go over them minutely or what few grains of tobacco may have
fallen into the cuffs or pockets. There is no soap. No tobacco. No toothbrush, The smell well
you can describe it only by the word 'stink.' It is like stepping into a sewer. It is nauseating. After

they have searched your clothing, they throw it at you. For bedding, you get two blankets, around
5 in the evening. You have no shoes, no bed, no mattress-nothing but the four damp walls and
two blankets. The walls are painted black. Once a day I got three slices of bread-no-that is an
error. Some days I got four slices. I got one meal in five days, and nothing but bread in between.
In the entire thirteen days I was there, I got two meals... I have seen but one man get a bath in
solitary confinement, in all the time that I have been there. That man had a bucket of cold water
thrown over him." Henri Young testifying his experiences in "The Hole" at Alcatraz during his
1941 trial.[83]
Dining[edit]
Main article: Alcatraz Dining Hall

Inmates in the dining hall

Alcatraz Dining Hall, often referred to as the Mess Hall, is the dining hall where the prisoners
and staff ate their meals. It is a long wing on the west end of the Main Cellhouse of Alcatraz,
situated in the center of the island.[84] It is connected to the block by a corridor known as "Times
Square", as it passes beneath a large clock approaching the entrance way to the dining hall.[5]:93
This wing includes the dining hall and the kitchen beyond it. On the second floor was the
hospital and the auditorium, which was where movies were screened to the inmates at weekends.
[85]

Dining hall protocol was a scripted process, including a whistle system to indicate which block
and tier of men would move into and out of the hall at any given time, who sat where, where to
place hands, and when to start eating.[86] Prisoners would be awakened at 6:30, and sent to
breakfast at 6:55.[45] A breakfast menu is still preserved on the hallway board, dated 21 March
1963. The breakfast menu included assorted dry cereals, steamed whole wheat, a scrambled egg,
milk, stewed fruit, toast, bread, and butter. Lunch was served in the dining hall at 11:20, followed
by a 30-minute rest in the cell, before returning to work until 16:15.[45] Dinner was served at
16:25 and the prisoners would then retire to their cells at 16:50 to be locked in for the night.[45]
Inmates were permitted to eat as much as they liked within 20 minutes, provided they left no
waste; waste would be reported and may make the prisoner subject to removal of privileges if
they made a habit of it.[87][46]

Each dining table had benches which held up to six men, although smaller tables and chairs later
replaced these which seated four.[50] All of the prison population, including the guards and
officials would dine together, thus seating over 250 people.[50][88] The food served at Alcatraz was
reportedly the best in the United States prison system.[87]
Recreation[edit]
Main article: Recreation Yard (Alcatraz)

Recreation Yard

The Recreation Yard was the yard used by inmates of the prison between 1934 and 1963. It is
located opposite the dining hall south of the end of D-Block, facing the mainland on a raised
level surrounded by a high wall and fence above it.[89][90][91] Guard Tower #3 lay just to the west of
the yard.[92] The gun gallery was situated in the yard, mounted on one of the dining hall's exterior
walls.[51]
In 1936, the previously dirt-covered yard was paved.[93] The yard was part of the most violent
escape attempt from Alcatraz in May 1946 when a group of inmates hatched a plot to obtain the
key into the recreation yard, kill the tower guards, take hostages, and use them as shields to reach
the dock.[94]
Inmates were permitted out into the yard on Saturdays and Sundays and on holidays for a
maximum of 5 hours.[95][96] Inmates who worked seven days a week in the kitchen were rewarded
with short yard breaks during the weekdays.[96] Badly behaved prisoners were liable to having
their yard access rights taken away from them on weekends.[96] The prisoners of Alcatraz were
permitted to play games such as baseball, softball and other sports at these times and intellectual
games such as chess.[95] Because of the small size of the yard and the diamond at the end of it, a
section of the wall behind the first base had to be padded to cushion the impact of inmates
overrunning it.[97] Inmates were provided gloves, bats, and balls, but no sport uniforms. In 1938,
there were four amateur teams, the Bees, Oaks, Oilers, and Seals, named after Minor League
clubs, and four league teams named after Major League clubs, the Cardinals, Cubs, Giants, and
Tigers.[98] Many of the inmates used weekends in the yards to converse with each other and
discuss crime, the only real opportunities they had during the week for a durable conversation.[99]
Other buildings[edit]

Warden's House[edit]
Main article: Warden's House (Alcatraz Island)

Warden's House and lighthouse

The Warden's House was the home of the penitentiary's warden. It is located at the northeastern
end of the Main Cellblock, next to Alcatraz Lighthouse. The 3-floor 15-room mansion was built
in 1921 according to the Golden Gate National Recreational Area signpost,[100] although some
sources say it was built in 1926 or 1929 and had 17 or 18 rooms.[101]
Between 1934 and 1963, the four wardens of Alcatraz resided here, including the first warden,
James A. Johnston. A house of luxury, in stark contrast to the jail next to it, the wardens often
held lavish cocktail parties here.[102] The signpost at the spot shows a photograph of a trusted
inmate doing chores at the house for the warden and that the house had a terraced garden and
greenhouse.[100] The mansion had tall windows, providing fine views of San Francisco Bay.[101]
Today, the house is a ruin, burned down by Native Americans during the Occupation of Alcatraz
on June 1, 1970.[101]
Building 64[edit]
Main article: Building 64

Building 64 Residential Apartments was the first building constructed on the island of Alcatraz,
intended entirely for the purpose of accommodating the military officers and their families living
on the island.[103] Located next to the dock on the southeastern side of the island, below the
Warden's House,[104] the three-story apartment block was built in 1905 on the site of a U.S. Army
barracks which had been there from the 1860s. It functioned as the Military Guard Barracks from

1906 until 1933. One of its largest apartments in the southwest corner was known as the "Cow
Palace" and a nearby alleyway was known as "Chinatown".[103]
Social Hall[edit]
Main article: Social Hall (Alcatraz)

The ruined Social Hall of Alcatraz

The Social Hall, also known as the Officers' Club, was a social club located on the northwestern
side of the island. Located in close proximity to the Power House, water tower and Former
Military Chapel (Bachelor Quarters), it formerly housed the post exchange.[105] The club was a
social venue for the Federal Penitentiary workers and their families on the island to unwind after
a hard week's work dealing with America's most hardened criminals after they'd been locked up
at 17:30.[106][107] It was burned down by Native Americans during the Occupation of Alcatraz in
1970, leaving a shell which still remains.
The club had a small bar, library, large dining and dance floor, billiards table, ping pong table
and a two-lane bowling alley, and was the centre of social life on the island for the employees of
the penitentiary.[108][109][110] It regularly hosted dinners, bingo events, and from the 1940s onwards
showed movies every Sunday night after they had been shown to the inmates during the day on
Saturday and Sunday.[108][5]:128 The club was responsible for organizing numerous special events on
the island (held either in the hall or the Parade Grounds) and the fundraising associated with it,
anything from ice cream and watermelon feasts to Halloween fancy dress and Christmas parties.
[108][111]

Power House[edit]
Main article: Power House (Alcatraz)

The Power House is located on the northwest coast of Alcatraz Island. It was constructed in 1939
for $186,000 as part of a $1.1 million modernization scheme which also included the water
tower, New Industries Building, officers quarters and remodeling of the D-block.[75] The white
powerhouse smokestack and lighthouse were said to give an "appearance of a ship's mast on
either side of the island".[112] A sign reading "A Warning. Keep Off. Only Government permitted
within 200 yards" lay in front of the powerhouse to deter people landing on the island at the
point.

Between 1939 and 1963 it supplied power to the Federal Penitentiary and other buildings on the
island. The powerhouse had a tower duty station which was guarded with a "30-caliber
Winchester rifle with 50 rounds of ammunition, a 1911 semiautomatic pistol with three sevenround magazines, three gas grenades, and a gas mask."[113]
Alcatraz Water Tower[edit]
Main article: Alcatraz Water Tower

The Water Tower in 2008, visibly rusting.

The Water Tower is located on the northwestern side of the island, near Tower No. 3, beyond the
Morgue and Recreation Yard.[114] The water tank is situated on six cross-braced steel legs
submerged in concrete foundations.[115][116]
As Alcatraz had no water supply of its own, it had to import it from the mainland, brought by tug
and barge.[117] During the island's military years, there were in-ground water tanks and water tanks
were situated on the roof of the citadel.[118] The water tower was built in 194041 by the Federal
Bureau of Prisons,[119] after the island received a government renovations grant to supply the
majority of the island's fresh water.[118]
It is the tallest building on the island, at a height of 94 feet (29 m) with a volume of 250,000 US
gallons (950 kL) gallons of fresh water. It was used to store potable water for drinking, water for
firefighting, and water for the island's service laundry facility.[120][121][116]
Model Industries Building[edit]
Main article: Model Industries Building

The Model Industries Building is a three/four-story building on the northwest corner of Alcatraz
Island. This building was originally built by the U.S. military and was used as a laundry building
until the New Industries Building was built as part of a redevelopment program on Alcatraz in
1939 when it was a federal penitentiary. As part of the Alcatraz jail, it held workshops for
inmates to work in.[122]

Inmates working in the sewing room

On January 10, 1935, the building shifted to within 2.5 feet from the edge of the cliff following a
landslide caused by a severe storm. The warden at the time, James A. Johnston, proposed extend
the seawall next to it and asked the Bureau for $6500 to fund it; he would later claim to dislike
the building because it was irregularly shaped.[75] A smaller, cheaper riprap was completed by the
end of 1935. A guard tower and a catwalk from Hill Tower was added to the roof of the
Industries Building in June 1936 and the building was made secure with bars from old cells to
bar the windows and grill the roof ventilators and to prevent inmates from escaping from the
roof.[75] It ceased use as a laundry in 1939 when it was moved to the upper floor of the New
Industries Building. Today the building is heavily rusted after decades of exposure to the salt air
and wind, and neither the guard tower on top of the building or the Hill Tower still exist.
New Industries Building[edit]
Main article: New Industries Building

Watch tower at Alcatraz Island (June 2016).

The New Industries Building was constructed in 1939 for $186,000 as part of a $1.1 million
modernization scheme which also included the water tower, power house, officers' quarters and
remodeling of the D-block.[10]
The ground floor of the two-story 306 ft long building contained a clothing factory, dry cleaning
plant, furniture plant, brush factory, and an office, where prisoners of the federal penitentiary
could work for money.[10] They earned a small wage for their labour which was put into an
account, known as a Prisoner's Trust Fund, which would be given to them upon leaving Alcatraz.

They made items such as gloves, furniture mats, and army uniforms.[122] The laundry room
occupied the entire upper floor, the largest in San Francisco at the time.[10][122] Each window has 9
panes and there are 17 bays on each floor on either side.
[123]

Notable inmates[edit]
Main article: List of inmates of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary
Image

Inmate

Arthur R.
Barker
("Doc")

Number/Te
rm

Summary

Arthur Barker (June 4, 1899 January 13,

1939) was the son of Ma Barker and a
member of the Barker-Karpis gang along
with Alvin Karpis. In 1935, Barker was sent
#268 1935
to Alcatraz Island on conspiracy to kidnap
39
charges. On the night of January 13, 1939,
Barker with Henri Young and Rufus McCain
attempted escape from Alcatraz. Barker
was shot and killed by the guards.[124]

When Al Capone (January 17, 1899

January 25, 1947) arrived on Alcatraz in
1934, prison officials made it clear that he
would not be receiving any preferential
treatment. While serving his time in Atlanta
Federal Penitentiary, Capone, a master
manipulator, had continued running his
rackets from behind bars by buying off
guards.[44] Capone generated major media
attention while on Alcatraz, though he
served just four and a half years of his
Alphonse
sentence there[44] before developing
"Al" Gabriel #85 1934 symptoms of tertiary syphilis and poor
Capone
39
mental health before being transferred to
("Scarface")
the Federal Correctional Institution at
Terminal Island in Los Angeles in 1938. He
tried his best to seek favors from warden
Johnston, but failed, and was given work in
the prison performing numerous menial
jobs, and had many fights in the prison with
fellow prisoners, including a fellow prisoner
who held a blade to his throat in the
barber's shop after Capone attempted to
jump the queue. He was released from jail
in November 1939 and lived in Miami until
his death in 1947 at 48 years of age.[44][125]

Meyer Harris
#1518
Cohen
196163
("Mickey")

Mickey Cohen (September 4, 1913 July

29, 1976) worked for the Mafias gambling
rackets; he was convicted of tax evasion
and sentenced to 15 years in Alcatraz
Island.[126] He was transferred to the United
States Penitentiary in Atlanta shortly before
Alcatraz closed permanently on March 21,
1963. While at Atlanta, on August 14, 1963,
fellow inmate Burl Estes McDonald
clobbered[127] Cohen with a lead pipe,
partially paralyzing the mobster. After his
release in 1972, Cohen led a quiet life with
old friends.[128]

Ellsworth
Raymond
Johnson
("Bumpy")

"Bumpy" Johnson (October 31, 1905 July

7, 1968), referred to as the "Godfather of
Harlem", was an African-American gangster,
numbers operator, racketeer, and
bootlegger in Harlem in the early 20th
century. He was sent to Alcatraz in 1954
and was imprisoned until 1963. He was
believed to have been involved in the 1962
escape attempt of Frank Morris, John and
Clarence Anglin.[129]

#1117
195463

Alvin Karpis (August 10, 1907 August 26,

1979) was a Lithuanian by birth. He was
nicknamed "Creepy" for his sinister smile
and called "Ray" by his gang members. He
was known for being one of the three
leaders of the Ma Barker-Karpis gang in the
1930s; the other two leaders were Fred and
Doc Barker of the Ma Barker Gang. He was
the only "Public Enemy #1" to be taken
Alvin Francis
personally by J. Edgar Hoover. There were
Karpavicz
#325 1936 only four "public enemies" ever given the
("Creepy
62
title of "Public Enemy #1" by the FBI. The
Karpis")
other three, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd,
and Baby Face Nelson, were all killed before
being captured.[130] He also spent the
longest time as a federal prisoner in
Alcatraz Prison at 26 years; while there, he
was beaten up by Allie Anderson, inmate
#340.[131] Karpis was credited with ten
murders and six kidnappings apart from
bank robbery. He was deported to Canada
in 1971 and died in Spain in 1979.[125][132][133]

George
Celino
Barnes
("Machine
Gun Kelly")

Rafael
Cancel
Miranda

"Machine Gun Kelly" (July 18, 1895 July

18, 1954) arrived on September 4, 1934. At
Alcatraz, Kelly was constantly boasting
about several robberies and murders that
he had never committed.[134] Although his
#117 1934
boasts were said to be tiresome to other
51
prisoners, Warden Johnson considered him a
model inmate. Inmate #139, Harvey Bailey,
who was known as "The Dean of American
Bank Robbers", was his partner.[131] Kelly was
returned to Leavenworth in 1951.

#1163
195460

In July 1954, Rafael Cancel Miranda (born

1930) was sent to Alcatraz, where he
served six years of his sentence. At Alcatraz
he was a model prisoner,[3] where he worked
in the brush factory and served as an altar
boy at Catholic services. His closest friends
were fellow Puerto Ricans Emerito Vasquez
and Hiram Crespo-Crespo. They spoke
Spanish and watched out for each other. On
the recreation yard he often played chess
with "Bumpy" Johnson.[3] He also befriended
Morton Sobell; they developed a friendship
that lasts to this day.[3]

His family made trips to San Francisco to visit

him, but he wasn't allowed to see his children. His
wife was allowed to talk to him through a glass in
the visiting room, using a phone. They were not
allowed to speak in Spanish and had to speak in
English.[135] He was transferred to Leavenworth in
1960.
Robert
#594 1942 Robert Stroud, who was better known to
Franklin
59
the public as the Birdman of Alcatraz
Stroud
(January 28, 1890 November 21, 1963),
("Birdman of
was transferred to Alcatraz in 1942. At a
Alcatraz")
young age he took to pimping and was
involved in a murder during a drunken
brawl. After terms in McNeil Island and
Leavenworth Federal Prison, where he had
killed Officer Andrew Turner, he was
transferred to Alcatraz, with his sentence
extended.

A self-taught ornithologist, he wrote books, and

his Digest on the Diseases of Birds is considered a
classic in Ornithology. He was confined to DBlock for most of his duration in Alcatraz in
solitary confinement,[136] and after a term in the
prison hospital, was transferred to the Medical
Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield,
Missouri due to serious bad health.[8] Although he
was given the name "The Birdman of Alcatraz, he
was not permitted to keep birds in his prison cell
as he had been able to do previously. He died in
1963.[8][28][137][138]
Legends[edit]
Further information: Legends of Alcatraz

Alcatraz has been cited as one of the most "haunted" places in America.[139] The Native Americans
mentioned the evil spirits they purportedly encountered on the island long before it became a
military prison.[140] Mark Twain visited it, found the atmosphere of the island eerie, and described
it as "being as cold as winter, even in the summer months",[141] and The Washington Post has also
claimed that Alcatraz is a place "where visitors can sense the dread of past inhabitants still
trapped in the atmosphere."[142] The alleged haunting of the prison has been documented in
numerous paranormal television series.[143] Officials for Alcatraz have dismissed the reports of
ghosts at Alcatraz as nonsense and deny their existence; an official for Alcatraz said in 1994,
"These ridiculous ghost stories will stop tourists from visiting. And how can these people say
they heard canaries? We don't have any birds in here."[