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August 11

First Civilian Prisoners Arrive at Alcatraz (1934)


On August 11, 1934, the first civilian prisons arrived at the federal prison on Alcatraz Island. Before that, the island’s use as a prison was limited to the military.

Alcatraz Island is located in the San Francisco Bay, 1.5 miles offshore. Also known as The Rock, Alcatraz has served as a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a Federal Bureau of Prisons federal prison.

After the United States acquired California as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which ended the Mexican-American War, the U.S. Army began studying the suitability of Alcatraz Island for military defense. In 1853 the Corps of Engineers began fortifying the island, creating Fortress Alcatraz. The island’s first garrison at Camp Alcatraz, numbering about 200 soldiers and 11 cannons, arrived at the end of that year. When the American Civil War broke out in 1861, the island mounted 85 cannons. At this time it also served as the San Francisco Arsenal for storage of firearms to prevent them from falling into the hands of Southern sympathizers. Despite its fortifications, Fortress Alcatraz never fired its guns offensively. However, during the war it was used to imprison Confederate sympathizers and privateers on the west coast. This began Alcatraz’s history as a military prison.

The army decided to switch the focus of its plans for Alcatraz from coastal defense to detention, a task for which it was well suited because of its isolation. In 1868, Alcatraz was officially designated a long-term detention facility for military prisoners. In 1907, Alcatraz was officially designated as the Western U.S. Military Prison. In 1909, construction began on the huge concrete main cell block, which remains the island’s dominant feature.

The United States Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz was acquired by the United States Department of Justice in October 1933, and the island became a Federal Bureau of Prisons federal prison in August 1934. On August 11, 1934, the first civilian prisoners arrived. During the 29 years it was in use, the jail held such notable criminals as Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, and James “Whitey” Bulger. It also provided housing for the Bureau of Prison staff and their families.

By decision of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the prison was closed in March 1963. It was closed because it was far more expensive to operate than other prisons, salt water saturation had severely eroded the buildings, and the bay was being badly polluted by the sewage from the inmates and Bureau of Prisons families on the island.

Today, Alcatraz is a historic site operated by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.