President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement during the weekend that he wanted to reopen and expand the notorious federal penitentiary of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay is calling attention to infamous prison.
Alcatraz closed its doors as a federal prison 60 years after hosting some of the most infamous criminals in the United States, including Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. During his 29 -year career as a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963, Alcatraz won the reputation of being the final stop for inmates who could not be controlled in other facilities, According to the Prison Office.
The Federal Island of the Alcatraz prison, known as “The Rock”, is located in the Bay of San Francisco, California, on July 21, 1950.
AP
The lasting mystique of the island has also attracted Hollywood, especially for the 1962 film “The Birdman of Alcatraz”, starring Burt Lancaster and the 1996 action thriller “The Rock”, starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage. The production team filmed significant portions of “The Rock” at the real prison place.
Despite its fearsome reputation, Alcatraz was never the prison portrayed in Hollywood films. According to the prison office, the installation maintained a surprisingly small population, with an average of between 260 and 275 inmates, less than 1% of the federal prison population at that time. Some inmates even requested transfers to Alcatraz, attracted by conditions that included unique occupation cells.
One of the three cell levels of individual cells in the main block of the Federal Prison of Alcatraz on the island of Alcatraz in the Bay of San Francisco, California, on March 15, 1956.
AP
What caused Alcatraz to be unique was his strict regime. Prisoners were granted only four basic rights: food, clothing, refuge and medical care. Everything else, from family visits to the access of the library, had to win through good behavior.
The system was designed to teach compliance, since inmates typically spend five years on the island before being transferred back to other facilities, according to the BOP.
The isolation of the prison in the San Francisco Bay contributed to its mystique, particularly with respect to the escape attempts. According to their operational history, 36 men tried to flee in 14 separate incidents, according to the prison office. While officially no one managed to escape, five prisoners remain “missing and allegedly drowned” to this day.
Contrary to popular belief, the Bop said that the sharks that man eat did not patrol the waters around Alcatraz. The true challenges for the possible escapes were the cold temperatures of the bay (with an average of 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit), powerful currents and the distance of 1.25 miles to the coast.
The island of Alcatraz is shown on May 4, 2025, in the Bay of San Francisco, California.
Noah Berger/AP
According to the National Parks ServiceThe island of Alcatraz receives approximately 1.2 million visitors annually as a site of the National Park, offering tours of the former prison and serving as a symbol that leads visitors to contemplate issues of crimes, punishments and justice, issues that have resurfaced in the national conversation after the Trump announcement.
The island’s history extends beyond its years in prison. Fortified initially as a military installation in the 1850s, Alcatraz was part of the Coastal Defense System of the San Francisco Bay and housed the first operational lighthouse on the West Coast, according to the BOP.
The Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala appointed for the first time the island “hobby” in 1775, according to the BOP, which means “pelicans” or “strange bird”, far from the sinister reputation that would later acquire as the notorious federal penitentiary of the United States.
