Historic Furnishings Report: Alcatraz Island - Main Prison Building
Grassick M. 2005. Historic Furnishings Report: Alcatraz Island - Main Prison Building. Historic Furnishing Reports. San Francisco, California
The Main Prison Building on Alcatraz Island was completed by the U.S. Army in 1912. The reinforced concrete prison building, consisting of two stories over a basement, rests on the remains of a fort constructed by the army in the 1850s and first occupied in 1859. By 1907 the original fort’s role in the defense of San Francisco Bay had diminished, and the post was converted to the Pacific Branch, U.S. Military Prison. Construction of the new prison building began in 1908, and it was first occupied on February 6, 1912.In 1915 the post was renamed Pacific Branch, United States Disciplinary Barracks. It operated under this new title, with an emphasis on discipline and the return of prisoners to regular army units, until 1933. The prison population at Alcatraz during this period varied from a low of around 250 prisoners to a high of more than 600. However, Alcatraz was an expensive post to maintain, and in 1933 the War Department offered the installation to the Department of Justice. A new maximum security prison on Alcatraz would provide the Department of Justice with a secure spot for the worst offenders among the country’s rapidly growing prison population. The prison acted as something of a deterrent as well, becoming a symbol of the isolation and strict discipline that awaited those convicts who could not or would not adapt to the regular prison system.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Grassick, Mary
- Date of Issue
- 2005
- Units
- GOGA , HIST
- Keywords
- Alcatraz, California, ehistory, furnishing, History, Organization, Preservation, prison, San Francisco
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Human Use | Cultural Landscapes | Cultural Landscapes