The History of Alcatraz

Alcatraz also referred to as "the Rock", is located in the San Francisco Bay and is 1.5 miles from San Francisco, California. The small island has served as a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and up to 1963, Alcatraz was a federal prison. The National Registery of Historic Places put Alcatraz Island on their list in 1976 and Alcatraz became a national historic landmark in 1986. Alcatraz Island has been featured in many movies, TV shows, cartoons, books, comics, and games. There have been many noteable prisoners inside the prison during the twenty nine years of the facility being used as a prison: Al Capone, Robert Stroud (a.k.a. The Birdman of Alcatraz), George "Machine Gun" Kelly, James "Whitey" Bulger and Alvin Carpis who was the one inmate who served the most time at Alcatraz.

Juan Manuel de Ayala discovered the small island in 1775 while he charted the San Francisco Bay. He named the island "La Isla de los Alcatraces," which translates to "The Island of the Pelicans". The Prison staff has claimed no prisoners had ever successfully escaped during the twenty-nine years that the prison was in operation. A total of thirty six prisoners attempted to escape: there were two men who tried twice, twenty escapees were caught, six were shot and killed at the time of their escape and then there were three escapees who got lost at sea and were never found. On May 2, 1946, the most violent escape attempt from Alcatraz occurred by six prisoners but failed and this led to the so-called Battle of Alcatraz.

Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin successfully carried out one of the most puzzling escapes from Alcatraz that was ever planned on June 11, 1962. There was an unguarded 3-foot wide utility corridor right behind Cell Block B where the prisoners were kept. The prisoners used metal spoons which had been made by soldering the silver from a dime, and made an electic drill out of a vacuum cleaner motor which they had stolen and they began scraping away the moisture-damaged concrete from around the air vent leading back to the utility corridor. The noise made from the scraping of the concrete was drowned out by accordions that were being played during music hour everyday. The prisoners hid their progress from the guards by making false walls.

Their route of escape lead them up through vent of a fan, both the fan and the motor had been taken out and replaced with a steel grille, leaving behind a shaft which was large enough for the prisoners to be able to climb through and had made rivets out of bar soap for the grille that they had taken out. For their trip to the mainland, the prisoners also built an inflatable raft crafted out of several raincoats they had stolen. They each made a papier-mâché dummy of themselves out of human hair which they had taken from the barber shop floor and left them in their bed in their cell and then they escaped. The prisoners were estimated to have entered into the San Francisco Bay at 10 p.m that night.

During the ongoing investigation by the FBI, there were some things found on Angel Island belonging to the prisoners: including plywood paddles and parts of the raincoat raft that they had made. The official report about the escape said that all of the prisoners had drowned in the cold waters of the bay while trying to reach the mainland.

The televison show MythBusters, investigated the escape and said that such an escape was plausible.

Today, Alcatraz Island is a historic site that is operated by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is open to tours and is known as the home of now-abandoned prison, this site is also the oldest operating lighthouse on the west coast in the United States. The island is host to several natural features such as rock pools, a seabird colony, and offers picturesque views of the coastline. Visitors can hop on the ferry from Pier 33 which is near Fisherman's Wharf in San Fransisco.

Sources:

Wikipedia.com