Alcatraz Island
Self-Guiding Trail
Dock
For thousands of years this island was a barren sandstone rock inhabited only by seabirds. In 1775 Spanbish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala charted the Bay and named the Island "La Isla de los Alcatraces"- The Island of the Pelicans.
The island was still uninhabited when California became part of the United States in 1848. Centered in the Bay and facing the Golden Gate, Alcatraz was an ideal defenstive location. In 1853 the Army began to build fortifications
on the Island. Some of these gun emplacements, such as the row of brick "casemates"
above the dock, can still be seen today.
Sally Port
The guardhouse, with its fortified entrance or "sally port,"
was built in 1857 and is the oldest building on the Island. the cannon port, rifle
slits and the dry moat under the road were designed to prevent an enemy invader from
advancing to the top of the hill. The fortifications on Alcatraz were completed
in 1859, and during the Civil War the Island had over 100 heavy cannon and a garrison
of 300 soldiers. No enemy ever attacked, however, and the gun rooms on either side
of the sally port were converted into jail cells.
Post Exchange/Officers' Club
Soldiers needed amenities at this isolated post. Before 1934
this building was the PX or Post Exchange (General Store). During the Federal prison
years it was a recreation hall and Officers' Club with a dance floor, soda fountain,
gymnasium, and two-lane bowling alley for the correctional officers and their
families.
Behind the Officers' Club are the Quartermaster Warehouse and
power plant, also constructed by the Army.
Military Chapel 1933
Barracks/Apartments 1905
Built in 1933 as an addition to the sally port below, this building
was used as living quarters, school house, and occasionally as a chapel. During the
Federal prison era it was remodeled into apartments for bachelor correctional
officers.
The large, four-story building up the roadway to the right of
the chapel was originally built as an Army barracks. Later it was an apartment house
for Federal correctional officers and their families.
Military Convict Labor
Alcatraz became the Army's Pacific Branch Military Prison in
1907. Soldiers sentenced to hard labor chipped rock, built roadways and buildings,
and transported soil from neighboring Angel Island. The soil was used for foundations
and landscaping. Most of the vegetation, including the eucalyptus trees, was brought
to Alcatraz; native vegetation was almost non-existent.
Cellhouse 1912
Front Entrance
Army prisoners constructed this massive cellhouse between 1909
and 1912. For a while it was the largest reinforced concrete structure in the world.
Ironically, the first prisoners confined within its walls were those who built it.
In 1933 the Army transferred Alcatraz to the newly formed Federal
Bureau of Prisons. The prison was redesigned as a maximum security facility to house
"incorrigible" (non-reformable) civilian inmates from other Federal institutions.
"The Rock" was a place to isolate troublesome convicts and adjust their behavior
in prison. Surrounded by the cold, swift currents of SanFrancisco Bay, the natural
isolation of Alcatraz was reinforced with barbed wire, guard towers, and double-barred
windows.
Cellblocks
Inmates were surrounded by steel and concrete, their lives dominated
by security and routine. The central corridor of the cellhouse was nicknamed
"Broadway".
The men spent 16 to 23 hours a day in their individual 5 ft. by 9 ft. cells.
Inmates who followed the rules of the prison could earn privileges
such as time in the recreation yard, a job, books movies or visitors. Inmates who
broke the rules lost these privileges.
Although the cellhouse could originally accommodate 600 men when
completed by the military in 1912, during the Federal prison era the average population
was about 260. Although the prison population was small, correctional officers were
numerous - usually one guard for every three inmates. The caged walkways at either
end of the corridor were the gun galleries where armed officers kept watch over
the inmates.
Dining Hall
The dining hall was one of the most dangerous areas in the prison. Officers
were unarmed, while inmates were armed with metal forks, spoons, and trays. Security
was curcial. Tear gas canisters were mounted on ceiling beams, while officers carrying
ifles patrolled on catwalks outside the windows.
Good food (said to be the best in the Federal prison system) helped to reduce
tensions and keep the men even-tempered.
D Block
With its heavy steel doors and three-tiered gun gallery, D block was also
known as Segregation, or the Treatment Unit. It was reserved for those inmates who
broke Alcatraz regulations. men were usually kept in these cells 24 hours a day,
7 days a week. Inmates left their cells once a week for a 10-minute shower. Boredom
and loss of privileges were the primary punishments.
Inmates who were disruptive or committed offenses such as assaulting an officer,
breaking property, or throwing excrement, might be further isolated in one of the
solitary confinement cells numbered 9 to 14. the average stay in these steel boxes
was three days, often in total darkness. Bedding was issued only at night.
The cells are larger in D Block because they were built during a modernization
program in 1940, and new guidelines for cell sizes had been developed for Federal
prisons.
The Escape Attempt of 1962
During the Federal prison era, 36 men tried to escape from Alcatraz in 14
separate attempts. The most notorious escape occurred here on June 11, 1962.
hree inmates--Frank Morris, John Anglin, and his brother Clarence--spent many
months slowly chipping holes through the rear walls in each of their cells. Working
at night, they carefully concealed their work with false cardboard grates. They
stored tools and prepared escape equipment in the utility corridor behind the walls.
The men made model heads of themselves from wire, newspaper, concrete, paint, and
human hair. Each night these dummy heads were placed in their beds to fool the
correctional
officers during head counts.
After "lights out" on June 11, 1962, the three inmates climbed up through
the utility corridors and crawled through a ventilator onto the roof. They headed
to the north end of the island where they slipped into the water on homemade flotation
devices. Although the three men were never seen again, they are presumed to have
drowned in the cold, swift waters of San Francisco Bay.
The Closing of Alcatraz 1963
The cost of transporting water, fuel, food, and supplies to this isolated
island made Alcatraz expensive to operate; its budget was twice that of any other
Federal prison.
The buildings were deteriorating rapidly in the salt air, and repairs would
have been unreasonably expensive. The Federal prison on Alcatraz closed March 21,
1963.
The Native American Occupation 1969-1971
In 1969 a group of Native American Indians occupied Alcatraz. They hoped to establish a cultural, spiritual and educational
center on the Island. Although this goal was never achieved, the occupation of
Alcatraz
became a symbol of resistance and hope to the Indian Movement, and focused national
attention on the problems and concerns of the American Indian.
Warden's House 1929
This was the Commanding Officer's home in the last years of the military era.
During the Federal prison years (1934-1963) all four wardens resided here with their
families. The house was destroyed by fire in 1970.
Lighthouse 1909
The first lighthouse on the Pacific Coast was built on Alcatraz in 1854. It
was eventually overshadowed by the prison, however, and this modern tower replaced
the original light in 1909.
Alcatraz Today
In 1972 Alcatraz island was made part of the Golden Gate National Recreation
Area (GGNRA) administered by the National Park Service. More than one million visitors
come to Alcatraz each year, and the Park Service is pursuing the goals of maintaining
and restoring the historic buildings and providing further opportunities for public
enjoyment. Future plans call for removal of much of the debris and other safety
hazards, and opening additional areas of the Island for public use and recreation.
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Department of Interior - National Park Service