17.3.09

F I R S TP R E V962NEXTLAST

Mini Series, Alcatraz, Day 3 of 5
On Sunday, August 21, 1934 a specially modified train loaded with the nation's most dangerous criminals arrived in the bayside town of Tiburon in Marin County. At the dockside the train was not unloaded but instead the cars were rolled onto a barge that steamed to Alcatraz. When they arrived at the 20-acre island, the prisoners found a newly established federal prison that had been conceived of and built in the wake of John Dillinger's escape from an Ohio jail. Alcatraz, it was decided, would have no possibility of escape. The prison in the middle of the frigid bay, featured one guard for every two and a half prisoners, and was surrounded by a 200 yard wide 'keep out' zone.

Among Alcatraz's most notable residents were Al 'Scarface' Capone, Alvin 'Creepy' Karpis, George 'Machine Gun' Kelly, Basil 'The Owl' Banghart, Arthur 'Doc' Baker, George 'Bugs' Moran, and Robert 'The Birdman of Alcatraz' Stroud. But not all inmates were famous enough for nicknames. One prisoner, Morton Sobell was serving 30 years for helping Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and another, Cecil Wright, had robbed an Illinois drugstore and taken $2.45 in postage stamps which earned him a federal sentence. Before it closed, over 1,500 men would do time at Alcatraz.

MORE ALCATRAZ PRISON PHOTOS
[ MAP B-13 ]


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