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HOW ALCATRAZ WORKED
THE LONGEST LIST OF THE LONGEST
STUFF AT THE LONGEST DOMAIN NAME AT LONG LAST
How did Alcatraz work?
Alcatraz is perhaps the most famous prison in the
entire United States, although it hasn’t been in operation for many years. “The
Rock” as it’s become known is so remote and desolate that not even plant life
can survive. This does not bode well for the many inmates it saw over the years
and it’s not supposed to. Alcatraz was meant to be an inescapable prison, made
out of the thickest and hardest steel and surrounded by tidal waves, as it lies
on an ocean. But there is some life surrounding the prison and that is the great
white sharks that call the waters near The Rock home.
Alcatraz was the worst of the worst prisons and it
was meant only for the worst of the worst criminals. It was such a tough life in
this prison that some members of the Mob and other gangs actually tried to find
their way in for a short stay to add credit to their name upon release. Alcatraz
quickly became a legend, with Hollywood movies showing it as a place where
ghosts and spirits roam as well as making the prisoners who stayed there appear
to be heroes. Prisoners such as the most famous of all time, the Birdman of
Alcatraz, all helped to add to the legend that Alcatraz soon became. Although
some stories of Alcatraz proved to stay true to its legend, with prisoners
digging out walls with a spoon to escape and escapes that left a myriad of
missing bodies in its wake, life at Alcatraz was actually no worse than any
other federal prison.
Today, Alcatraz has become a national landmark for
the United States and its history extends far more than the thirty years that it
was used as a prison. During that time it has been used as a fort, a lighthouse,
a location of Native American occupations, and a national park. But how did the
prison work and who were some of its famous inmates? Why did the stories of
Alcatraz become larger than life and add to the many legends we still hear about
today?
Alcatraz sits on an island in San Francisco Bay and
it’s actually the top of a mountain. It wasn’t always surrounded by water but
where the water now lies, was actually once a valley. When sea levels rose
thousands of years ago, water filled the valley. The reason behind the island’s
lack of plant life is that very little soil covers the island, making its
nickname, The Rock, even more meaningful. The water surrounding the prison are
also very dangerous, and not only because there are so many sharks in it. The
water is very cold, approximately below sixty degrees Fahrenheit. The currents
are extremely strong, creating another deterrent for those considering escape
and rather than moving towards San Francisco, they move towards the Pacific
Ocean so if a person were to get caught in them, they would wind up very far
from land.
In 1912, the prison was built as a military prison
and was constructed of steel and concrete. It underwent huge renovations and
remodelling in 1934 and that was when it became one of the highest-tech prisons
in the entire United States. Although the prison was originally designed to be
able to hold 600 prisoners, it only used half of that space when it was turned
into a federal prison. The portion that was once part of the military prison but
no longer used by the government was closed off with grates. The myth that
Alcatraz was a prison that made escape near impossible was more than just a
myth. There were many factors that made escape unlikely. Not only were the
surrounding waters death-defying and the concrete and steel walls almost
impenetrable but each cell block was also its own prison within the larger
prison. Each cell was its own block made of concrete walls and no wall of any
cell block touched any part of the exterior walls of the prison. During the time
it spent serving as a military prison the bars on these cell blocks were made
from iron but during the remodeling of 1934, these were taken out and a type of
steel that could not be cut with even a hacksaw were installed.
Other renovations took place as well. These
included the three main cell blocks: A, B, and C. They all ran parallel to each
other, with A being the shortest and B and C taking up most of the length of the
prison. Each block was three cell blocks high and each cell was only five feet
wide and nine feet deep. Within this tiny space were a bed, sink, toilet, and
small desk. Each cell also had two shelves occupying the back wall. There was
only one prisoner per cell block and three of the walls were solid concrete,
while the remaining wall was made of the steel bars. There was one block, Block
D, which housed the worst kind of criminal. This block was reserved for inmates
that could not act accordingly among the prison’s general public. When prisoners
were sent here, they would remain in their cell nearly all the time, and were
only given one hour of exercise a week. If Block D was not enough punishment to
scare them, they would then be sent to “The Hole.” The Hole was made up of only
five cells but these cells received absolutely no light. There was one cell that
was particularly bad. It didn’t have a toilet but instead, prisoners were
expected to use the hole in the floor. To make matters almost unbearable,
prisoners were usually put into the cell with unclothed and weren’t given any
blankets. The little food that was brought to them was always very unpleasant.
Life inside of Alcatraz for those inmates that were in one of the three main
blocks wasn’t as unbearable as legend would have it. Each day was the same with
prisoners beginning the day by sweeping out their cell. They would then get
dressed for the day and stand so that the guards could take a head count. From
there they would go to the mess hall for breakfast after which they would go to
their assigned duties. These duties included working on the docks, in the
laundry, or at an industrial building that sat on the island. Sometimes they
were given time to read and study in the library. They would eat dinner and then
go back to their cells to wait for 9:30 p.m., which was when the lights would be
turned off.
The prisoners kept their humor about them as they
served their time, giving each hallway between the blocks nicknames. The hallway
in the center was named Broadway, and the other two were named Michigan Avenue
and Park Avenue. The area that sat between the mess hall and the blocks was
named Times Square. At the opposite end of the cell blocks was what prisoners
called the “gun gallery.” It was given this name due to the guards that would
stroll the many walkways, all armed and ready to take shot at any prisoner who
caused too much trouble or tried to escape. At one point under the reign of the
first Warden, James Johnston, speaking was prohibited at Alcatraz. If a prisoner
were to speak when they were not allowed to, they would be taken to one of the
isolation cells. Prisoners soon tired of this and began to speak all at once
without the fear of all being taken into isolation because there simply were not
enough cells to allow this.
Prisoners also had very different views regarding
their treatment during their time at Alcatraz. While some thought that the
treatment was an extreme type of cruelty and held protests, others believed that
the prison was one of the safer ones in the country. The prisoners that viewed
the treatment as safe also thought that Alcatraz was probably one of the
cleanest in the country due to the extreme discipline and routine that was all
part of the practice of being a prisoner there. Other people lived on the island
along with those housed inside of Alcatraz’s walls. These people included the
guards and their families. Any children within those families would take a ship
out to the mainland so that they could attend school every day. Because there
was no plant life on the island, boat trips also had to be arranged for shopping
excursions. However, the island did have a movie theater and other entertainment
and recreational venues. Life for these families was much different than that of
the average American family. Toy guns were forbidden in case a prisoner got a
hold of one and threatened a guard with it. Magazines and newspapers also had to
be burned because prisoners were not allowed any news of the outside world. Any
razors, knives, or silverware that were no longer of use had to be thrown into
the bay.
Alcatraz
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