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On March 21, 1963, USP Alcatraz closed after 29 years of operation. It did not close because of the disappearance of Morris and the Anglins but because the institution was too expensive to continue operating. An estimated $3-5 million was needed just for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open. That figure did not include daily operating costs - Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison (in 1959 the daily per capita cost at Alcatraz was $10.10 compared with $3.00 at USP Atlanta). The major expense was caused by the physical isolation of the island - the exact reason islands have been used as prisons throughout history. This isolation meant that everything (food, supplies, water, fuel...) had to be brought to Alcatraz by boat. For example, the island had no source of fresh water, so nearly one million gallons of water had to be barged to the island each week. The Federal Government found that it was more cost-effective to build a new institution than to keep Alcatraz open.

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D Block was the Treatment Unit for disciplinary cases. Alcatraz was a place for the country's worst inmates, and D Block was where they kept the worst of the worst. Prisoners there were locked in their cells for 24 hours a day.

There are three tiers to D Block. The bottom tier had cells with no furniture, nothing. Sometimes the men were kept in total darkness. Men could go mad. The prisoners in the upper two tiers had beds and toilets. D Block is on the west side of the island and the cells are lit up by the setting sun. At night, looking out through the dingy windows you can see the lights of the city, appearing and disappearing in the fog, like an illusion. Some say there are ghosts on Alcatraz - of prisoners, of old soldiers who served when it was a fort, of Indians.
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How big was the average cell?
Each cell in B & C block was 5 feet by 9 feet. Cells at Alcatraz had a small sink with cold running water, small sleeping cot, and a toilet. Most men could extend their arms and touch each wall within their cell. The cells in D Block (segregation) were more spacious, but still the least popular. In D-Block, inmates were confined to their cells 24-hours per days, with the exception of one visit per week to the recreation yard, and these visits were alone. There were 336 cells in B & C Block.

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Quelle était la taille moyenne d'une cellule?
Chaque cellule du bloc B & C est de de 5 pieds par 9 pieds. Les cellules à Alcatraz avait un petit évier avec eau froide courante, petit berceau du sommeil et une toilette. La plupart des hommes pouvaient étendre leurs bras et toucher chaque mur intérieur de leur cellule. Les cellules du Bloc D (ségrégation) sont plus spacieuses, mais les moins populaire. Dans le D-Block, les détenus /taient confinés à leurs cellules 24 heures par jour, à l'exception d'une visite par semaine à la cour de récréation. Il y avait 336 cellules dans le bloc B & C.

Indians Welcome

The "Indians Welcome" writing is from the American Indian occupation of the island from 1969 to 1971. ( The "AN" is what remains of an alteration made to the sign, to make it read "United Indian Property".)

The Occupation of Alcatraz was an occupation of Alcatraz Island by the group Indians of All Tribes (IAT). The Alcatraz Occupation lasted for nineteen months, from November 20, 1969, to June 11, 1971, and was forcibly ended by the U.S. government.
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L’occupation of Alcatraz désigne l’occupation pacifique de l’île d’Alcatraz dans la baie de San Francisco en Californie par un groupe d’activistes amérindiens. Elle dura 19 mois entre le 20 novembre 1969 et le 11 juin 1971. Elle s’inscrit dans le contexte de la montée du Red Power movement et l’organisation de l’American Indian Movement fondé en 1968.

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