Alcatraz Prison

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The island was named after the sea birds. This is because before there were prisoners on the island, there were colonies of brown pelicans. (Klein) The prison was placed on an island, and by the late 1850’s they started keeping prisoners there. This prison kept some of the most dangerous felons from 1934-1963 ("Alcatraz"). The prison never once reached it capacity of three hundred and thirty six prisoners. The average prisoner sit held was between 260-275 anywhere between that range (“Federal Bureau of Prisons”). The Island was set aside by the us to be used as a military reservation and before it could be used as a military reservation there was a gold rush in San Francisco. This led to a big growth in San Francisco. The US decided that San …show more content…

There were some attempts to escape from the prison. There were fourteen known attempts of escape from the prison. There were thirty six total prisoners who tried to escape and twenty three of these thirty two were captured, six were shot and killed. Two of the prisoners drowned while they were trying to swim away. Five of the prisoners who tried to escape were never found and they were just considered missing ("Alcatraz"). One of the attempt was when there were some men who at night laid props that looked like they were still sleeping in there beds. They went out and climbed through a widow. They were wearing raincoats. When the got into the water that had a raft that they could use this could have been one of the first successfully escaped from alcatraz, but it is thought that they did not make it across and they died by drowning (“Did Anyone Ever Escape from …show more content…

The prison was shut down in 1863 because of the high operating costs. The prison because it was on an island had high prices because things had to be shipped in, which had a great coast to it. The prison was also starting to wear down because of the salty sea air ("Alcatraz”). The prison operated for twenty nine years (“Federal Bureau of Prisons”). Alcatraz prison is not longer a prison but servers a different purpose. Alcatraz prison was opened to the public. In 1973 it was opened to the public. Every year about one million tourists go and visit the prison (“Alcatraz”). Alcatraz prison was a very strict prison. The prisoners had to follow the rules. Some prisoners did not like it at this prison at all, that they even tried to commit suicide. Others wanted to switch prisons because of the nice conditions that there was. Alcatraz prison once was a prison but now it is visited by