When was the Alcatraz prison inaugurated and how many years was it in operation?

For most people, Alcatraz conjures up memories of Don Siegel’s 1979 prison thriller Escape from Alcatraz starring Clint Eastward as Frank Morris, one of three reluctant inmates who plotted to escape from the notorious high security fort constructed on Alcatraz Island,1.25 miles offshore from mainland San Francisco. Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, as it became known, claimed to be “escape-proof” even to the most determined fugitives.

Surrounded by icy cold water with dangerous rip currents, even the strongest swimmers would find it near impossible to reach the shore. There were a reported 14 escape attempts made by 34 prisoners during the 29 years that Alcatraz was operational as a prison. Almost half were caught, seven were shot, one confirmed drowned and five others listed as “missing presumed drowned”.

A fort is built on Alcatraz Island

Alcatraz is the Spanish word for gannet (a pelican-like seabird) and the island received its name (La Isla de Los Alcatraces) from Spanish explorer Juan Manuel Diaz in 1775. The island was acquired by the US government and due to its strategic location, it was deemed ideal for military use. In 1853, the United States Army Corps of Engineers commenced constructed a fortified citadel - a three-storey stronghold capable of housing 200 soldiers.

The Third US Artillery was the first garrison to inhabit the island in late 1859. Subsequently, Alcatraz was converted into a military prison camp in August 1861, incarcerating Confederate prisoners after the Civil War, then indigenous, American natives, who were held for seven months on sedition charges.

Alcatraz opens as a federal prison

The prison underwent further construction work at the turn of the century and by the early 20th Century, was ‘home’ to over 300 civilian prisoners. It remained a prison through the First World Wars and was acquired by the United States Department of Justice in October 1933, opening as a federal penitentiary the following year. Alcatraz was the place where America’s most hardened, unruly criminals - bank robbers and murderers, were sent. Perhaps its most infamous inmate was feared mobster and Public Enemy No.1, Al Capone, who was sent there in August 1934.

Capone was one of the prisoners occupying a cell on D Block, the dreaded Treatment Block where the most disruptive inmates were holed up with little or no concessions. Unlike the nearby San Quentin, Alcatraz did not have a death row but eight prisoners were murdered by their fellow inmates during almost three decades as a a federal penitentiary.

Alcatraz closed on 21 March 1963 with the remaining prisoners sent to other state penitentiaries to serve their sentences. There were several reasons for the closure - the salty sea air had started to affect the building’s structure but more importantly, the prison had just become far too expensive to run. Costs per inmate were calculated at over three times the expenditure at other, similar centers.

After a few years of being occupied by various different groups of Native American activists, Alcatraz today operates as a tourist site and museum, offering two and a half hour tours or an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour with access to a other parts of the island.