Probably the most haunted place I have ever personally been is the prison turned tourist trap, Alcatraz.  I was only about 15 years old at the time, and hadn’t yet heard any of the ghost stories associated with the little island in the San Francisco bay, but even I was aware of the strange energy that surrounded the place.

Alcatraz has a long and interesting history, beginning as far back as 1775, when it was named “La Isla de los Alcatraces,” or Island of the Pelicans, by Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala.  In 1847, the U.S. Army became interested in the barren slab of rock, noting its strategic placement near the entrance to the bay, and by 1853, Army Engineers began constructing a fortress on the island, along with the first lighthouse on the Pacific Coast.  The military became interested in fortifying the area after gold was discovered in the American River.  The U.S. realized that, as word spread about the great wealth available in California, other governments might be tempted to come and seize the area and reap the benefits of the gold for themselves.  Cannons and Rodman guns were installed, and for a time, Alcatraz was considered best example of America’s military might.  But over the course of the next couple of decades, many weaponry advances were made, and the island’s military capabilities became obsolete.

It didn’t take long, however, for the government to determine that the barren, hostile environment of the island would serve well as a holding place for prisoners.  Starting in 1861 with the Civil War, and again in 1898 during the Spanish-American War, Alcatraz received military prisoners, and by 1912, a massive cell-house had been built at the top of “The Rock”.  When operating the prison became too costly in 1934, the Army decided to close the prison, and ownership of the island went to the Justice Department.  At this point in American History, the depression was in full swing, and the emergence of organized crime was terrorizing certain cities and their people.  Alcatraz wound up being a key piece of the arsenal designed by the authorities to curb the deadly activities of the gangsters and to return order to cities affected by them.  The old military prison was given a major facelift, bringing in electricity and making the island as escape-proof as possible, and the federal prison we all know and love was born: Alcatraz.

The most feared and least friendly prison in the federal system, Alcatraz received the toughest, most incorrigible inmates from other prisons around the country, including Al Capone, Doc Barker (from the Ma Barker Gang), George “Machine Gun” Kelly, Robert “Bird Man of Alcatraz” Stroud, and Floyd Hamilton (Driver of Bonnie and Clyde).

Doing time on Alcatraz in a four by eight foot cell was no easy feat, and in the 29 years the prison was operating, violence was not in short supply.  Prison guards were tough on the prisoners, prisoners were tough on each other, and complete sensory deprivation in “the hole” was used to maintain control.  An attempted uprising by six inmates in 1946 ended in two days thanks to the island being bombarded with mortars and grenades by the Marines, the Navy, and the Coast Guard.  During the uprising, the inmates assassinated three guards.  Three of the offending inmates were killed during the battle for Alcatraz, two others were later electrocuted at San Quentin, and the last received life plus 99 years in prison for his involvement.

In 1969, after the prison had been closed for a few years and the island had been basically abandoned, a group of Native American’s took over the island and declared it Indian Territory.  During the two years they occupied the Alcatraz, a number of homeless people and squatters also descended on island, and lawlessness and violence were prevalent.  Many of the Native Americans chose to leave during this time, and in 1971, the Coast Guard, along with several U.S. Marshalls, came and evicted the last of the residents.  In 1973, the government reopened the island, this time as the slightly vandalized, overtly decaying tourist attraction that it is today.

Night watchmen and Park Services employees who have worked on the island since have reported numerous strange incidences they are at a loss to explain.  Clanging noises in empty rooms, the sounds of men running on the upper tiers, men talking in the hospital ward, and screaming near the solitary confinement dungeons have all been reported.  One solitary cell, #14D, is said to have a strange intensity about it, and is also said to stay much colder than any of the other solitary cells near it.  A prisoner in the 1940s once began screaming while in this very cell, claiming that a creature with glowing eyes was in the cell with him.  The guards ignored him, he screamed through the night, and the next morning he was found dead in this cell by prison guards.  There were clear hand impressions bruised onto his neck, and the autopsy showed that these strangulation marks were not self-inflicted.  Some think a guard, tired of his screaming, might have been responsible for his death, but nothing was ever proven.

Strange smells, cold spots, and apparitions have also been reported over they years, including during the period when Alcatraz was still operating as a prison.  Even the famous Warden Johnston reported hearing sobbing and being unable to locate the source of the sound.  And finally, a park ranger reported hearing the sound of a banjo one morning near the shower room.  It was later discovered that Al Capone used to practice his banjo in the shower room during his last weeks on The Rock.  One has to wonder if maybe he still does….

What I remember of my brief visit to the island was a feeling of overwhelming repression, and the constant notion that I was being watched everywhere I went.  This was most true, however, in the hospital ward, which was simply one of the creepiest places I have been, though on its face, it is just another part of tour.  For some reason, I have no photos of my visit there, so I can’t go back and look for orbs other ghostly images that I wouldn’t have known to look for back then, but there are others who believe they do have photographic evidence of the paranormal happenings on Alcatraz. 

Until next time -

Yours in this life and the next!

GhOsTwRiTeR KiM