If a man did not behave at another institution, he could be sent to Alcatraz, where But while USP Alcatraz was not the "America's Devil's Island" thatīooks and movies often portrayed, it was designed to be a prison system's prison. (for instance, always one man to a cell) at Alcatraz to be better than other Federal prisons, and several inmatesĪctually requested a transfer to Alcatraz. Many prisoners actually considered the living conditions Than 1 percent of the total Federal prison population). Was only about 260-275 (the prison never once reached its capacity of 336 - at any given time, Alcatraz held less Institutions, who were considered violent and dangerous, or who were considered escape risks. Were not well-known gangsters, but prisoners who refused to conform to the rules and regulations at other Federal "Public Enemy #1"), and Arthur "Doc" Barker did time on Alcatraz, most of the prisoners incarcerated there While several well-known criminals, such as Al Capone, George "Machine-Gun" Kelly, Alvin Karpis (the first Prisons, and to show the law-abiding public that the Federal Government was serious about stopping the rampant Open a maximum-security, minimum-privilege penitentiary to deal with the most incorrigible inmates in Federal Department of Justice for use by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Army used the island for more than 80 years-from 1850 until 1933, when the island was transferred to From 1909 through 1911, the military prisoners on Alcatraz built the new prison, which wasĭesignated the Pacific Branch, U.S. In 1909, the Army tore down the Citadel, leaving its basement level to serve as the foundationįor a new military prison. While the defensive necessity ofĪlcatraz diminished over time (the island never fired its guns in battle), its role as a prison would continue for The island was also the site of the first operational lighthouse on the West Coast of theīy the late 1850s, the first military prisoners were being housed on the island. Together with Fort Point and Lime Point, Alcatraz formed a "triangle of defense" designed to protect
Plans to install more than 100 cannons on the island, making Alcatraz the most heavily fortified military site on Army to build a Citadel, or fortress, at the top of the island in the early 1850s. TheĬalifornia Gold Rush, the resulting boom in the growth of San Francisco, and the need to protect San Francisco Bay In 1850, a presidential order set aside the island for possible use as a United States military reservation. While the exact meaning is stillĭebated, Alcatraz is usually defined as meaning "pelican" or "strange bird." Over time, the name was Anglicized to Alcatraz. Was the first to sail into what is now known as San Francisco Bay - his expedition mapped the bay and named one The name Alcatraz is derived from the Spanish "Alcatraces." In 1775, the Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala
Soldier with artillery canon atop Alcatraz island