13 Alcatraz Facts About Its Terrifying Origin Background And Inmates

Alcatraz is a well-known prison with a well-earned, dark reputation.This article will explain its history in-depth. Alcatraz has appeared in movies like ‘The Rock’ and ‘The Great Escape’. It is a favorite spot for dark tourism, which is a growing industry.Alcatraz is a prison that is well-known for high profile inmates and for having no successful escapes by its prisoners. It is also known as the rock because it is situated in the middle of the Bay of San Francisco. At one point, it was home to Al Capone. He was one of the original gangsters and was previously a prisoner in Atlanta, where he was given special privileges through bribery and notoriety. Some of the famous residents of Alcatraz are the Birdman of Alcatraz, Kelly and Robert Stroud, and Al Capone.The first prisoners were received by the prison when fortifications were built on the island. The number of inmates who are still alive today is unknown. Alcatraz was a military outpost during the 1850s, and it was described by the Spanish explorer, Juan Manuel de Ayala, in the year 1775. This island was also known as the island of pelicans. The prison of Alcatraz was used to house military prisoners during the time of civil war. The place had about 52 prison guards. It costs over $200,000 to build the place. Around 300 civilians, including children and women, lived on the island. Most of them were the families of the staff guards. Once Alcatraz was closed, the prison inmates were distributed across several other prisons. It holds great importance to the history of California since it had the first lighthouse on the California coast and was a part of the civil war. Today, many people visit this place to experience and see it for themselves. As a US National Park Service property, Alcatraz is now a tourist spot for people from across the world.If you enjoy this informative content, keep reading for more. You can also visit our articles about 1963 US history and the 26th president of the USA.History Of AlcatrazAlcatraz prison is one of the most famous prisons. The California Gold Rush was in full swing when the US built Alcatraz. At the same time, the government decided to create a fortress on the island for defensive purposes.There was a Spanish naval officer and explorer, named Juan Manuel de Ayala, who charted the San Francisco bay in 1775. He also named today’s Yerba Buena Island as La Isla de Los Alcatraces. The Alcatraz federal prison was formerly located on Alcatraz Island, in the bay of San Francisco, in California, USA. Yerba Buena Island was named by Ayala in the year 1775, and later the name was applied to the rock, which is now known as Alcatraz Island. This was kept by Captain Frederick W. Beechey, who was an English explorer and naval officer.Many prisoners were sentenced to death as well on the island. Some of the inmates who were sentenced to death were transferred to San Quentin State Penitentiary, which had a gas chamber. Alcatraz inmates were allowed to meet people for a visit in Alcatraz, and this was directly approved by the warden. This took place each month.In August of 1827,  French Captain, Auguste Bernard Duhaut-Cilly, wrote that, upon passing by Alcatraz (Pelicans) Island, it was covered by many small birds.In the year 1969, some college students stormed the abandoned prison. Many people swam over 1.5 mi (2.42 km) and completed during the escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. The birdman of Alcatraz was considered a famous inmate during the Mexican-American war. It was also revealed that the inmates used to connect with their visitors through an intercom, and a correctional officer monitored them during the whole conversation.Correctional Officers in AlcatrazThere were many correctional officers on the prison island of Alcatraz. They were given the duty of monitoring the prisoners when they used to have a conversation with their visitors. This was so that they were not able to make an escape attempt, as some of them were notorious criminals. Alcatraz had some of the most expensive and luxurious prison cells compared to other state and federal institutions, and the same services were given in other prison cells to other inmates at a lower cost. The facilities still remained the same.The work of correctional officers was that they had to sit alone in an elevated tower for the whole night. They were surrounded by hundreds of inmates at the same time in the recreation yard. They were given assignments and duties which they followed on a schedule, and during these follow-ups, they were rotated four times a year. Their duties also included tapping prison cell bars with a mallet to see whether they had been cut or not. They had to count the number of inmates on a daily basis, especially in night hours. They also had to do tasks like searching dirty laundry for contraband or standing in a gun gallery. Their main task was to observe the inmates. Many of the Alcatraz officers and correctional officers used to live in apartments provided by the system in Alcatraz with their families and were also provided with some other benefits. It became one of the infamous prisons and was located by the west coast’s first lighthouse. Alcatraz island and prison served as a federal prison from the year 1934-1963 for some of the most dangerous civil prisoners.Unique Alcatraz Facts You Should KnowAlcatraz island was located on the west coast in San Francisco bay. Many famous prisoners were kept there. It is surrounded by water on all four sides.The inmates were provided with hot showers and were monitored all the time so that they could not make an escape attempt. It left a psychological effect on prisoners of this infamous prison. In the year 1959, some of the prisoners were transferred to the medical center for federal prisoners. The prisoners were also sent there for life imprisonment and were not sent directly. They arrived from many other prisons because of their bad behavior and disobedienceAlcatraz island prison was very hard and maintained proper discipline. Some inmates were later sent to a typical federal prison. Prison life was not easy there but was also not very difficult as they were provided with many facilities like hot showers and were allowed to meet visitors every month. During 1909-1911, military prisoners were sent to work there. There were disciplinary barracks there. Some were sent there indefinitely, and others were there for six to eight years.At one point, the island was occupied by Native Americans as a form of protest. They were forced to leave by federal marshals in the month of June 1971. The native Americans had initially occupied Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, California, in the month of November 1969.The last prisoner transferred to Alcatraz was Franck C. Weatherman in December 1962.Alcatraz of the RockiesThere were many infamous prisoners during the time when the federal government used Alcatraz Island as a prison. Other federal prisons have been compared to the island, including one in colorado dubbed the Alcatraz of the Rockies.The most infamous inmate of this prison is Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera, who is more commonly known as El Chapo. Guzmán is one of the new residents in the federal prisons dubbed the Alcatraz of the Rockies, which is well known compared to many other federal prisons. He is a prisoner with a net worth of least of billion dollars, and he is also known to be the biggest drug trafficker in the world.Next is Theodore Kaczynski, who was also called the Unabomber. Theodore (Ted) Kaczynski, was captured because of his leading role in building and mailing around 16 explosive devices. He was captured for the crime of killing three people and injuring around 23 people. He is serving eight life sentences.Another one is Robert Hanssen, who was a senior FBI agent worker who worked in counterintelligence until the time when it was revealed that he had passed information to the Soviet Union for around 20 years. The information passed by him was highly involved in the executions of American agents, and now he is serving 15 life sentences. There are many others named Tyler Bingham, O.G Mack, Harold Nicholson, Terry Nichols, Michael Swango, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.Famous Prisoners in AlcatrazAlcatraz prison, situated on Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, was home to many famous prisoners like Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, John Anglin, Frank Morris, and many more, but these federal penitentiary prisoners never made any escape attempts from Alcatraz prison. This prison was commonly used by military prisoners during the civil war, and a very famous prisoner was the birdman, named because he kept so many birds with him despite the no pets policy at the Alcatraz federal penitentiary.These famous prisoners were not known as gangsters, but some of them refused to accept the rules and regulations of the federal institutions. They were sent to the Alcatraz federal penitentiary situated on Alcatraz Island, San Francisco. Prisoners named Machine Gun Kelly, Frank Morris, Al Capone, and John Anglin were considered to be dangerous prisoners, and there were escape risks in each case.There were rules at Alcatraz prison. If any prisoner did not behave accordingly then they would be sent to other prisons at Alcatraz, situated on Alcatraz island. These prisons were highly structured, and a daily schedule was made for prisoners to teach them basic rules and regulations. Prisoners in this prison were given four rights that were food, clothing, shelter, and medical facilities. Prisoners there had to earn privileges, and they could earn these by working at the Alcatraz federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island.They had visits from family members. They were given access to a library and were also indulged in cultural activities, like art and music. After all this, a prisoner was given an average period of five years there. Then it was seen whether they had changed their behavior or not, and if they had, then they were transferred back to a normal prison away from Alcatraz Island.The prisoners who were kept on Alcatraz Island, San Francisco, never tried to make any escape attempts.Cells in AlcatrazThere were so many cells on Alcatraz Island that had various facilities. They provided hot showers to their prisoners, as Alcatraz Island was the most expensive prison in the world. One of its most well-known prisoners was Al Capone. The size of a cell in the B and C blocks was 5-9 ft (1.53-2.74 m). Each cell had a small sink with ice-cold water.The B and C block contained 336 cells, with a small sleeping cot and a washroom. They were not very big, and men could touch each wall of a room if they stretched their arms. D block cells had more space compared to B and C block cells, but they were not so popular. Inmates who were kept in D block were confined to their cell for the whole day and were only allowed to visit the recreation yard once a week. These visits were usually conducted as an individual. Alcatraz Island was very expensive and was the most famous prison.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked reading our Alcatraz facts, then why not take a look at our articles on other fascinating places, including Colombia or the Brazil museum?

Alcatraz is a well-known prison with a well-earned, dark reputation.