From the day Alcatraz first opened its doors in 1934 to the day facilities closed in 1963, it was an absolutely deplorable place to be incarcerated. Yet, for some reason, a lot of criminals actually requested the 22-acre island penitentiary in the San Francisco Bay as their spot for lockup. Alcatraz was unlike any prison that came before or after it, and authorities followed some unusual rules to keep the country's most dangerous crooks in line. Would you be able to last one night on The Rock?
1. Higher standards than other prisons
Not just any petty crook could wind up at The Rock. Being sent to Alcatraz meant you were considered an extremely violent criminal — one of the worst.
Because of this, the prison staff created strict standards for inmates to maintain, like cell tidiness and limited contact with fellow prisoners or anyone else. It was truly unlike any other facility on the planet.
2. More privacy than usual
Alcatraz could hold up to 330 men, each of whom was housed in his own individual cell. This allowed prisoners some privacy, but was hard on those who craved human contact and sociability.
Infamous gangster Machine Gun Kelly loved the Rock because he wouldn't be killed in his sleep by another inmate looking to get famous.
3. Barely any time outside
There were four different cell blocks: A through C (which boasted five by nine-foot cells) and D block, for those in solitary confinement.
The only time those prisoners could leave their room was during a weekly visit to a recreation yard. Those who defied authority on The Rock, however, had their recreation privileges ripped away from them.
4. In the hole
And not being allowed outside the concrete walls could certainly take its toll, probably more than we realize. Those in the D block could remain there for days or even weeks.
"A day in the hole was like an eternity,” Jim Quillen, former Alcatraz inmate said. It was enough to make the most mentally stable person question his sanity after a while.
5. Four key rights
As prisoners of Alcatraz, each man was entitled to four basic rights: clothing, food, shelter, and medical care. If they wanted anything else, however, they had to earn it.
This meant they weren’t guaranteed any form of contact with each other or the outside world. And even their essentials weren't always of the best quality.
6. Medical ups and downs
While Al Capone was behind bars there, he received treatment for syphilis — the mind-ravaging condition that led to his release years later.
There were also dental and psychiatric services offered by a physician-in-residence, though that standard of care eventually slipped. In the '50s, Alcatraz had to switch to contracted doctors due to massive budget cuts.
7. The Birdman of Alcatraz
The hospital was well-used by some of the prisoners, including Robert Stroud, who was nicknamed the Birdman of Alcatraz.
Besides having a kidney condition that required him to be constantly treated, his mental health floundered at the island prison, especially because it forbade Stroud from caring for sparrows like he did at other penitentiaries. Inmates only had so many ways to bide their time.
8. Library access
There was an enormous library in D-Block — a bit of an oasis on the otherwise inhospitable island. When prisoners earned the right, they could check out more than 10,000 different titles.
If there’s a good thing about prison, apparently, it’s getting the chance to finally make a dent in your to-read list. Of course, inmates weren't allowed to simply browse the library.
9. Not free to browse
Because of strict security measures, most prisoners never got to see the rows and rows of books.
When they wanted to check out a book, the men filled out a form, and then their books would be delivered to them later in the day. Everyone had magazines with lists of titles to choose from.
10. Learning behind bars
Reading was one of the only leisure activities available to inmates, so many took advantage of it. The Birdman himself studied law and learned several new languages.
Others enrolled in correspondence classes offered by the University of California, Berkeley, perhaps in an attempt to give themselves a new lease on life whenever they returned to the outside world.
11. Radios and movies
With continued good behavior, prisoners could earn a few more rights, especially as technology became more advanced. In the '50s, there were radio headsets available, as well as an auditorium that showed movies.
All of these activities could be taken from inmates in an instant, though. And that was often the case, though the jailbirds also found ways to make their own fun.
12. The sound of music
Though it clashed with the grim conditions in the prison, there was a house band in Alcatraz: the Rock Islanders.
According to a former guard, the group was, "only a cut above a fourth- or fifth-grade band, but it did wonders for their self-esteem." Either way, a little music was always good for morale and provided another creative outlet.
13. Al Capone's Band
And even the most fearsome inmates didn't shy away from joining in with the music-making.
One notable member was Al Capone, who gushed in a letter to his son that he "learned a Tenor Guitar and then a Tenor Banjo, and now the Mandola." Can you imagine being front row in a concert that featured Scarface himself?
14. Noise rules
As you would expect, the amateur musicians couldn't strike up a tune any time they pleased. The Rock Islanders had extremely strict practice rules: "No singing or whistling accompaniments will be tolerated.
Any instrument which is played in an unauthorized place, manner, or time will be confiscated and the inmate placed on a disciplinary report." It’s kind of like a real-life Footloose.
15. Not very luxurious
The many hours that the prisoners spent inside their cells crawled by at a snail's pace. Each man didn’t have much to occupy himself aside from his own thoughts and the meager furnishings that Alcatraz provided.
Former inmate Jim Quillen described his home there as “a steel bed, a straw mattress, and a dirty, lumpy pillow." Sounds like a comfortable space.
16. Code of silence
Their fellow inmates were only a few feet away, but there weren't many opportunities for chattering across the cell block. One of the harshest rules at Alcatraz was a code of silence instituted by the first warden, James A. Johnston.
The men were only allowed to speak during meals or recreation time. This terrible system only lasted until 1937.
17. Precise meal schedule
The typical day at Alcatraz revolved around food, a routine that came with a few surprises. Meals were served at the exact same times every day: breakfast at 6:45 a.m., lunch at 11:40 a.m., and dinner at 4:25 p.m.
Eating dinner at such an early hour may seem surprising, but when you have to eat breakfast before seven, it makes sense.
18. Pretty decent food
Surprisingly, the meals were pretty good. "Food at Alcatraz is much better than usual prison fare. For dinner, there is meat, beans, coffee, bread, celery; for supper, chili, tomatoes, and apples, with hot tea," Bryan Conway, another previous inmate, recalled.
After getting their daily provisions, lucky inmates were able to spend a bit more time away from their cells.
19. Working wages
If prisoners weren’t in solitary, they could take up jobs around Alcatraz. There were a multitude of duties: laundry, kitchen work, burning the trash, and tending docks.
They earned a whopping 5-12 cents an hour, which was below minimum wage, but many Alcatraz residents jumped at the chance to do something more productive than just sitting around.
20. Letter regulations
There were also intense letter stipulations. Men could only write two pages per week to their blood relatives — no one was allowed to contact their girlfriends or anyone else.
This policy, along with the island's other ironclad rules, might seem cruel and unusual, but you have to remember that the facility was trying to contain some of the most unhinged criminals in the country...
21. Arthur “Doc” Barker
Arthur “Doc” Barker worked with his brother in robberies, kidnappings, and murders. When Barker was in Alcatraz, he attempted an escape with three accomplices. They sawed through four sets of prison bars. Barker and the others carefully scaled the prison’s high barrier walls and ran to the beach. Guards spotted the prisoners.
They ordered the group to submit, but they refused. The crew sprayed them with bullets. Barker died from his wounds the next day.
22. Henri Young
Henri Young was known for violent altercations at McNeil Island Prison. And when he was transferred to Alcatraz, nothing changed. He killed inmate Rufus McCain, tried to escape, threw objects at guards, and organized a prison-wide work strike. Young’s behavior grew increasingly unstable as he fell deeper into mental illness.
He’d stand in weird positions, refuse food, laugh or cry involuntarily, and claim to be a zealot. In 1972, after Alcatraz permanently closed, he was paroled and disappeared from the public eye.
23. “Machine Gun” Kelly
George “Machine Gun” Kelly hailed from an upper-class Memphis family and became entwined with bootlegging after dropping out of college to marry Kathryn Thorne. She bought him a machine gun and helped push him toward crime. When Machine Gun Kelly was arrested, he bragged that he could get out of his jail cell.
The guards took this threat seriously and sent him to Alcatraz instead. He kept to himself in the tough prison and was a docile inmate.
24. Alvin “Creepy” Karpis
Alvin “Creepy” Karpis was known for his unsettling smile and penchant for kidnapping as a way to get money. The leader of the infamous, Barker family, he helped capture several high-value targets, landing under the watchful eye of the FBI. Karpis evaded capture for a few years but was eventually shipped to Alcatraz.
He’s known for being the longest-incarcerated prisoner on the desolate island fortress. When it closed in 1963, he finished his sentence in Canada. He left prison in 1969.
25. Roy Gardner
Roy Gardner had zero desire to remain in prison. He staged successful escapes from McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary and unsuccessful ones from Atlanta Federal Prison. Gardner was incarcerated for robbing trains and other trucks. Gardner hated Alcatraz and continued his pattern of escape attempts on the dangerous island.
In return, he was granted clemency after two years. Outside of prison, Gardner felt trapped by mental anguish and died by suicide in 1940.
26. Robert “Birdman” Stroud
Robert “Birdman” Stroud is embedded into the American culture through 1962’s Birdman of Alcatraz and 2014’s Birdman. At Leavenworth prison, Stroud had several hundred birds in his cell at once. He studied and cared for the creatures, writing two books on the subject.
Stroud was transferred to Alcatraz and was no longer allowed to care for birds. Instead, he focused his efforts on writing about the prison system and published Looking Outward: A History of the U.S. Prison System.
27. James “Whitey” Bulger
While James “Whitey” Bulger was imprisoned, he was a part of the CIA’s MK-Ultra program. This controversial operation was created to study the best ways to break someone’s will and control their minds. Very dark stuff. After Bulger went to Alcatraz in 1959, he said it was his favorite part of his time in prison.
Bulger was released in the ‘60s, lived a crime-filled life, was captured in 2011, sent to prison in 2013, and, finally, was beaten to death by inmates in 2018.
28. Meyer “Mickey” Cohen
Meyer “Mickey” Cohen is the only prisoner to ever be bailed out of Alcatraz. For six months, he was free of the penitentiary, which he called “a crumbling dungeon.” He would soon be sent back to prison for the remainder of his sentence. Cohen was attacked during his stint in the infamous prison.
Another unhappy inmate beat Cohen with a lead pipe, taking away his ability to walk independently. He’d later contract stomach cancer and die four years after his release from jail.
29. Morton Sobell
Morton Sobell was convicted of working with Ethel and Julius Rosenberg to supply information to a Russian secret agent. They shared information about America’s nuclear weapons during the Cold War, and this didn’t go well for them. Sobell was sentenced to 30 years in Alcatraz.
His cell had a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, and he was very popular with his fellow prisoners because J. Edgar Hoover hated him so much. He was released from imprisonment in 1969.
30. Al Capone/Getty Images
After he was convicted on tax evasion charges in 1932, Al Capone was sent to prison in Atlanta. He spent his time stitching soles onto shoes and was protected by former associates, which caused other inmates to claim he was getting special treatment. In '34, he was transferred to Alcatraz.
When Capone reached the island prison, he was incredibly sick. He became a shell of himself, losing any hope of reclaiming the criminal empire he'd spent his life building.
A legend is born
A native New Yorker, Capone quickly got caught up in the city’s underworld from a young age. He hung around with prominent mobsters and, in turn, began to develop a reputation for himself.
His famous nickname of “Scarface” was bestowed upon him around this time after he picked up a nasty cut on his face during a brawl.
The Chicago Outfit
Capone eventually made his way to Chicago, where he began to climb through the ranks of organized crime. Before long, he’d maneuvered his way right to the top of the infamous organization known as the Chicago Outfit.
Thus the young mob boss was building a fearsome reputation that would be known far and wide.
Public image vs reality
Throughout the latter half of the 1920s, Capone was unequivocally the most famous gangster in all of the United States.
Plus he’d made contacts with media officials and politicians, which helped him to craft a pretty savory public image. Behind the scenes, though, violence was always a big factor in his dealings.
An unhappy ending
Yet a life of crime caught up with Capone and he ended up in prison. The end of his life was also defined by illness, which ultimately got the better of him.
So the man who’d conquered the underworld and become something of a celebrity had come to a sorry end. It was the most dramatic of rise-and-fall stories.
From the old country
It was far from inevitable that Al Capone would become such a notorious figure in American history. His beginnings were pretty regular and humble, in fact.
His parents Gabriele and Teresina had immigrated to Brooklyn from their native Italy, and their experience of the United States was pretty normal for people in their circumstances.
A lot of siblings
The Capones and their eight kids didn’t have a lot of money, with both mother and father employed in modest jobs. Gabriele worked as a barber, while Teresina earned her living from sewing.
So this humble life growing up in Brooklyn was a far cry away from what would come down the line for Capone in his adult years.
School struggles
Capone was apparently quite good in school as a young kid. The older he got, however, the more issues he encountered. And his work started to slip by the sixth grade, which he was forced to repeat.
He didn’t exactly correct his school life, though, and he got into the habit of skipping class.
Attacking a teacher
The breaking point in Capone’s education came after a pretty nasty incident at school. The young man was apparently struck for misbehaving in class, you see, but he didn’t take it lying down.
Yep, Capone fought back, which led to a further beating and the end of his time as a student.
Meeting Johnny Torrio
Around that same period, the Capone family relocated from their home to somewhere a little nicer in Brooklyn. The area they settled in ultimately proved to be really important for Capone, as it’s where he first met the woman he’d later marry.
Plus it was where he encountered Johnny Torrio, the man who’d pull him into a life of organized crime.
Just a job
Capone started to help out Torrio, who was involved in gambling activities at that time. Yet Capone didn’t become involved with anything too serious at first, instead sticking with more conventional work.
Over time, though, the young man began to get more and more caught up in the activities of the underworld.
Being introduced to Frankie Yale
And it was through Torrio that Capone was introduced to a mobster named Frankie Yale in 1917.
Yale evidently saw something in Capone, so he hired him as a barman and bouncer for one of his establishments in Coney Island. It was in this very place that Capone ended up getting his now infamous nickname.
The real “Scarface”
Capone apparently insulted a woman in the bar one night, so the lady’s brother attacked him. The assault left marks running right across Capone’s face – and with that, “Scarface” was born.
Who would have thought at that time that this name would still be known to people more than a century later?
Living with the scars
Capone’s nickname of Scarface obviously stuck, but it appears that he may actually have been somewhat sensitive about the scars. Because whenever he was getting his photo taken, Capone would try to offer his right side for the shot.
This hid the side of his face that bore the grizzly scars, like in this photo here.
Becoming a father
Not long after the incident, Capone and his partner Mae Coughlin had their first child together. They then tied the knot a few weeks later. It seems that Capone wanted to live a good life at this point, thanks to his familial obligations.
Yet the mob was never far away, as illustrated by the fact that Johnny Torrio was Capone’s child’s godfather.
Going straight
Capone gave the quiet life a go and moved to Baltimore. Here he took on a bookkeeping job with a company that worked in construction – but all this wasn’t to last.
Torrio eventually reached out to Capone and asked him to come work in Chicago, which Capone was happy to do.
The dawn of prohibition
Torrio was finding success in a range of illegal industries in the Windy City – but things became lucrative from 1920 onwards.
That was when prohibition, the banning of alcohol, was brought in across America, meaning a new black market quickly opened up: bootlegging. And Torrio moved into that business, with Capone proving to be a useful asset.
Selling booze to judges claim
Torrio soon realized that Capone was extremely effective in this line of work, so he promoted him and gave him more power. Capone had become a prominent bootlegger, and he was quite open about it.
He was once asked in public if he sold alcohol, to which he replied, “Sure, and some of our best judges use my stuff.”
First arrest
Capone was undoubtedly a skilled bootlegger, but he wasn’t exactly subtle. Whereas Torrio liked to keep his head down, Capone was fond of living lavishly. Yep, he was a big drinker, which actually led to his first-ever arrest.
Intoxicated, he once drove into a parked vehicle – and then he needed Torrio’s help to get out of jail.
Gambling too much
Capone really seemed to enjoy living a life of excess. In speaking about his tendency for gambling, he once remarked, “I’ve lost a million and a half on the horses and dice in the last two years.
And the funny part is, I still like ’em, and if someone handed me another million I’d put it right in the nose of some horse that looked good to me.”
Going straight: take two
After a time of heady living alone out in Chicago, Capone’s family eventually moved over from Brooklyn. This apparently encouraged Capone to calm down a little and to settle into more of a family routine once again.
He picked up a modest home in the south of the city for them all to live in.
No gun, thanks
Even with his family around, though, Capone’s notoriety as a gangster continued to grow. Yet he never used to carry a firearm with him.
He saw that as a gesture of confidence in his own power, though he did always take bodyguards along no matter where he went.
A mayor’s vow
Starting around 1923 the authorities in Chicago had vowed to stamp out corruption, which represented a direct threat to Capone and Torrio.
A new mayor had been elected, and he’d promised to clean up the city. The two mobsters, then, felt that they needed to deal with these new circumstances.
A death in the family
On March 31, 1924, a mayoral election was scheduled to take place in the Cicero area of Chicago, where Capone and Torrio had recently relocated their business operations. The pair got involved and tried to intimidate voters into choosing their preferred candidate.
Some people were even killed, which then led to the police shooting one of Capone’s siblings. Things were getting messy alright.
Torrio calls it a day
By 1925 things had seemingly become too much for Torrio to handle, so he retired. Thus Capone was left to run the Outfit for himself. His rule was different to Torrio’s, who preferred to stay as quiet as possible.
Capone, on the other hand, spent lots of money and attracted attention from the media and the public.
A kind of Robin Hood
Capone was really popular with certain sections of the public, for a time. People who were getting sick of prohibition, for example, saw him almost as a sort of folk hero for providing them with booze.
As time went on, though, Capone’s name became so synonymous with violence that people began to turn away from him.
Prosecutor murdered
The brutality of Capone’s activities continued to garner attention, with one crime, in particular, upsetting the public. In 1926 Capone ordered a hit on two of his adversaries somewhere in Cicero.
The deed was done, but someone else got caught up in the attack, too. This was William McSwiggin, a prosecutor who had previously tried to pin a murder on Capone.
Public stand against organized crime
Calls for justice were sounded throughout Chicago, as people grew sick of gang-related crime. Plus the police raided Capone’s premises, which allowed them to accumulate some evidence in relation to the mobster’s tax crimes.
They couldn’t pin the murder on him, though, while Capone tried to calm things down in the underworld.
Move made on Irish mafia rivals
By the end of the 1920s Capone was unequivocally at the top of the bootlegging trade in Chicago. As such, he made plenty of enemies who wanted to take the mantle from him, like a man named “Bugs” Moran.
Moran had tried to kill Capone in the past, so Capone himself decided to retaliate in 1929. What transpired next shocked the city.
Gang murder
On February 14, 1929, a group of hit men linked to Capone disguised themselves as police officers and descended upon a garage in Chicago’s North Side.
Bugs Moran himself was alerted to the danger approaching him, and he actually managed to escape. Seven members of his crew, however, weren’t so lucky.
Public enemy number one
The so-called St.Valentine’s Day Massacre caused a media sensation, and the public quickly turned on Capone. Because it seemed obvious that he was connected to the bloodshed, even though he couldn’t be linked closely enough to face charges.
So the U.S. president himself, Herbert Hoover, pushed the federal government to finally pin tax fraud on Capone.
A light sentence?
Changes to the law over the years had provided the government with a strong justification for taking Capone to court. And by February 8, 1931, it finally saw some results.
Capone was sentenced to six months in jail, which wasn’t all that long in the greater scheme of things. But it certainly represented a start.
Pressure mounts on Capone
Then the Treasury Department began building a big case against Capone and many of his associates. So by June 1931 he was in court again, pleading guilty to crimes related to tax fraud and illegally selling alcohol.
Capone had bragged about cutting a deal with authorities, but the judge had other ideas, telling him that no such thing would be permitted. Capone thus altered his plea and claimed innocence.
A surprise in court
In October 1931 Capone was found guilty, but he had to wait until the following month to learn how long he’d be spending behind bars.
It was an 11-year sentence that was delivered to the mobster, plus a hefty fine. The good times had well and truly come to an end for Al Capone.
Alcatraz
“Scarface” was sent to prison in Atlanta, but he didn’t last long there. He was accused of getting better treatment in this jail, so he was transferred somewhere more secure.
The authorities sent him to the island penitentiary on Alcatraz, which sits in San Francisco Bay. Here, it would be more difficult for Capone to exert his power to ease his life behind bars.
Release from prison
In 1939 Capone finally left Alcatraz and was sent to another California-based jail called Terminal Island. Then, some months later, he was freed outright.
Having been locked away for over seven years and paying all his fines, Capone was a free man once again. But he was now only a shadow of his former self.
Poor health
Capone was no longer the same powerful and fearsome gangster that he once was. His criminal connections had weakened, plus the man himself was suffering from a terrible illness.
His mental faculties had deteriorated to such an extent, and he needed to seek treatment to help with the situation.
Dying young
But things never got better. Capone was forced to give up his life as a gangster, and he never again went back to Chicago. Instead, he stayed with his family in Florida, where he languished without much hope of recovery.
Then, on January 25, 1947, he passed away from a stroke and pneumonia at the age of 48.
“End of an Evil Dream”
The New York Times ran the headline, “End of an Evil Dream,” upon news of Capone’s death.
The story of one of the most famous gangsters in history had come to an end, though it would be retold again and again in books and movies. For better or for worse, the man had left his mark on American culture.
A scarred legacy
Capone was a ruthless man, with the deaths of many, many people on his hands. Yet he nonetheless elicited a morbid fascination in many people, which remains true to this day.
His life was so full of twists and turns, and it will undoubtedly be remembered for a long time to come.