Four Points Bulletin

Alcatraz Island is one of many iconic places to visit in San Fransisco; the perfect place to wrap up our California winter roadtrip. The once-military-prison-converted-federal-prison sits on a small island just a little over a mile from San Fransisco’s Embarcadero. In 1934 it opened its doors to the most notorious criminals in the prison system (Al Capone served 4.5 years here). The strong currents and cold water were supposed to deter prisoners from making an escape, but there were still 14 unsuccessful escape attempts in the 29 years that the prison was open (they wouldn’t be notorious prisoners if they didn’t try). The prison was eventually abandoned because cost to house prisoners here was more than triple the cost at non-island prisons. In 1986 it became a National Historic Landmark, and is now operated by the National Park Service. Unlike the prisoners who were housed here, we wished we could stay longer.