this is the oldest part of Alcatraz, dating back to the Civl War
this is a howitzer, like the ones installed back in 1866
this was the electrical shop
another view of the old civil war era buildings
this was the social hall, it had a bowling alley, etc.
these buildings had apartments for the guards and families to live in
looking up the hill towards the cell block
the views from Alcatraz are spectactular!
this was a morgue during the time Alcatraz was a military site, it was built over an 1870s tunnel that soldiers built to cross from one side of the island to the other
the salty air takes its toll on the concrete structures
another awesome view
the national park service is doing a lot of renovation/restoration
this is the shower and dressing area
I'm pretty sure they didn't have hot water, so it made for a quick shower!
in the big house
photos of the former officers that you hear during the audio tour
the palatial accomodations
I was on the first tour of the day, so you can get better photos
the cell was just big enough to accomodate the cot!
when you arrived at your cell, you were given a copy of the rules :)
you didn't have to go very far to use the bathroom!
the entrance to the dining hall, the inmates passed through the metal detector when going in and out
this was the rather intricate mechanical system that allowed the guard to open only a specific cell door remotely
I think I would be nervous trying to follow these directions!
information about the recreation yard
the recreation yard, you only saw this place if you were well behaved!
down on the baseball diamond looking back at the cell house
just outside the recreation yard is the water tower, which they are restoring
shuffleboard!
this side of the cell block faces San Fran and gets the most light, it was considered the nicest part of the jail house
this is the inside of one of the solitary confinment cells, if you were especially bad :)
this is inside of a solitary cell, it had a solid outer door that made the cell absolutely dark
there were a few inmates that spent over a year in solitary!
the library, inmates who were well behaved had library privileges to check out books and magazines
this display details the 'battle of Alcatraz', this was the bar spreader they used to get into the gun gallery
the gun gallery was the only place where guards carried weapons
this pulley system was how the guards would pass keys back and forth between guards on the floor and the gun gallery
these scars on the floor were caused by the US Marines dropping grenades into the cell house during the 'battle of Alcatraz'
the inmates view from their jail cell
some cells are setup to show how some inmates were able to occupy their time
radio headphones were wired into the cell at some point so the inmates could listen to the radio!
this is the inmate side of the visitation area
the rules for having visitors
the visitor side of the visitation room
this was the control room for the prison, look at all the technology ;)
