This Is What Prisons Look Like Over The Years
By Lauren Mccluskey
11 months ago
1. Alcatraz
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Alcatraz was a maximum security prison located in San Francisco Bay and was used to hold captives since the civil war. Alcatraz is located on a remote island and has been known as 'The Rock' for the many years that it was in operation as a prison and now that it is a tourist attraction.2. The Rock
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Alcatraz island, aka 'The Rock' was used to hold captives since the Civil War that took place between 1861 and 1865. But in 1932, Alcatraz became a maximum security prison in the state's 'war on crime' and held some of the country's most dangerous prisoners.3. The Civil War
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During the American Civil War that took place between 1861 and 1865, Alcatraz island held local civilians who were arrested for treason. It is said that the period during The Civil War in America was Alcatraz's most important period in its long history.4. A little bit of history
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Alcatraz had a strong military involvement throughout its history. In fact, it was originally built on the island just off San Francisco Bay with the purpose of protecting the country from a foreign invasion. And at the time, it was the only completed fort in the bay.5. Impossible to escape
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Surrounded by San Francisco Bay's choppy, cold, and rough water of the Pacific Ocean, Alcatraz prison eventually became the most secure prison in the whole world. And because it was so remote, escaping the high-security prison seemed completely impossible.6. Notorious Prisoners
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Alcatraz eventually held many well-known criminals that you'll probably know of. Its prisoners included some of the most infamous criminals in the world including the crime boss Al Capone and George Kelly Barnes, who was better known by his pseudonym, 'Machine Gun' Kelly.7. Al Capone
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Al Capone was a gangster and businessman, who was sometimes known as 'Scarface', who rose to power and notoriety during Prohibition in America. But that all ended when he was just 33 years old when he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion and conspiracy to violate the Prohibition laws.8. Machine Gun Kelly
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George Kelly Barnes, aka Machine Gun Kelly, was also sent to Alcatraz where he spent 17 years of his 10 to 50-year sentence for robbing a bank. Stories from his time there suggest that he boasted and exaggerated his past escapades and was then transferred back to Leavenworth Penitentiary which is a medium security prison in Kansas City.9. The Birdman of Alcatraz
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Convicted murderer, Robert Franklin Stroud, who was better known as the infamous Birdman of Alcatraz, is probably the most famous inmate ever to be held at the maximum security prison. And he got his nickname because he spent his time rearing almost 300 birds during his time as an inmate at Alcatraz and other federal prisons.10. A long history of escapes
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Criminals like Al Capone, George 'Machine Gun' Kelly, and The Birdman of Alcatraz all had a long history of escapes. And although they didn't manage to escape from Alcatraz, Machine Gun Kelly spent some time there bragging about escaping from Leavenworth Prison.11. The Great Escape
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Many credible sources suggest that from 1934 to when Alcatraz closed in 1963, 36 men tried to escape from the maximum-security prison in 14 different attempts. However, nearly all of them were either caught or did not survive their attempts to escape.12. The mystery of the three prisoners
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Despite nearly all of the attempted escapees being caught or dying in the process, there were three prisoners out of the thirty-six whose fates are still a mystery today. In fact, when officers carried out their checks, they had completely vanished, never to be seen again!13. Vanished without a trace
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The three prisoners, John Anglin, Clarence Anglin, and Frank Morris were in prison for various crimes, including bank robbery and burglary, and on June 12th, 1962, early morning checks revealed that they were not in their prison cells, or anywhere else to be seen on the island.14. The case was closed
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John, Clarence, and Frank escaped from their cells through the building's ventilation system and made it onto the roof. But what happened next still remains a complete mystery despite many agencies including the FBI investigating what happened and whether the three young men could have survived.15. Closure
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The Alcatraz prison officially closed its doors on March 21st, 1963. The reason it closed was because it was just too expensive to maintain. There were not only the daily costs, but the building itself needed a lot of work. It was estimated that they would have needed between $3 million and $5 million to restore it.16. A Tourist Attraction
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Today, you can visit Alcatraz island because it is now an extremely popular tourist attraction. There are various exhibitions to explore and daily guided tours with live narrations of the fascinating history of the island, from its role in the civil war to the notorious prisoners that were once held there.17. San Quentin Prison
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San Quentin prison is located in the state of California and its origins date way back to the California Gold Rush that took place between 1848 and 1852. It was established in 1852 and opened its doors in 1854 and is in fact the oldest prison located in the state of California.18. An influx of criminals
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San Quentin prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men only and back around the time when it opened, the California Gold Rush period had just been in full swing. This attracted a wealth of fortune seekers to the San Fransisco area where San Quentin is located, and with this, also caused a significant increase in crime.19. The state's only death row
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San Quentin prison, located on the north coast of San Fransisco, is the state of California's only death row facility for male inmates if they are sentenced to death. If women are condemned to death, they must be held at the Central California Women's Facility located in Chowchilla.20. Death row is split into three sections
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The Condemned Unit, or 'death row', at San Quentin is split up into three sections. There is the quieter North Segregation, built in 1934 for prisoners who 'don't cause trouble', also known North-Seg. The second is the leaky maze of the 'East Block' built in 1927 and then the 'Adjustment Center' for the worse of the worst.21. The largest death row in the US
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The Condemned Unit, or death row, at San Quentin prison, is the largest death row in the US and even in the western hemisphere! And as of 2016, the unit housed a whopping 81 death row inmates and 4 non-death row inmates. Death row used to be on the fourth floor of the North block, but according to some sources, when executions resumed in 1978, they required more space.22. The need for solid doors
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The Adjustment Block is one of the three sections of death row and is used to house the worst of the worst. When they expanded their Condemned Unit in 1978 to house the increasing number of death row inmates, they also added solid heavy doors to the cells to prevent inmates from launching bodily waste at officers or 'gunning down the doors'.23. It still has a gas chamber
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The San Quentin gas chamber still exists too. It is a small green hexagonal box that was previously used to execute prisoners with gas. But in 1995, it was ruled that using gas for execution was 'cruel and unusual' and between 1996 and the last execution at San Quentin in 2006, lethal injection was used instead.24. There were talks of bringing gas back
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Horrifyingly, the state of Arizona was talking about reviving the use of the gas chamber for executions. Arizona hasn't performed an execution since the botched lethal injection of Joseph Wood in 2014 and hasn't used gas since the horrifying execution by lethal gas of Walter LaGrand.25. There have been no executions since 2006
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Despite the size of the death row facility, and the large numbers of death row inmates, there hasn't actually been an execution at San Quentin prison since 2006. The last execution was of Clarance Ray Allen who died by lethal injection at the age of 76 for the murders of three people.26. It has been featured in films, TV, and music videos
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San Quentin prison has also been the setting for a number of movies, television programs, and even music videos. You might recognize it in Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), Dark Passage (1947), and even in Metallica's St. Anger music video and their 2004 film, Some Kind of Monster.27. Notorious inmates
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San Quentin prison has been the home to some of America's most notorious criminals, including Charles Manson. But it has also been a temporary home to some of America's most famous celebrities, including Machete star, Danny Trejo, musician Merle Haggard, and Scott Peterson.28. The most famous prisoner
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Probably one of the most famous prisoners held at San Quentin prison in California has to be the Manson Family leader Charles Manson who was convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder. And another famous inmate is Sirhan Sirhan, better known as Robert Kennedy's assassin.29. Johnny Cash At San Quentin
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Back in the sixties, Johnny Cash performed in a number of prisons, including Folsom Prison in 1968 and also San Quentin Prison in 1969 amongst others. In fact, Merle Haggard was actually at San Quentin at the time and saw Johnny Cash live. The performances were also released as an album.30. The San Quentin Giants
