Located in San Francisco Bay with a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge and downtown San Francisco, you’ll find perhaps the most famous prison in the world.
Alcatraz, nicknamed “The Rock”, was originally known as “La Isla de los Alcatraces” or “The Island of the Pelicans” because of its appearance as a barren white rock. The white was caused by pelican droppings, hence the name.
It served as a lighthouse, then a military fortification, then a military prison followed by a federal prison until 1963, when it became a national recreation area. Today it is maintained by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and nearly a million visitors per year stop by to check the place out.
The island, believed to be an evil place by Native Americans, has seen centuries of death from accidents, murders, and suicides. With this dark history, it’s no wonder Alcatraz is said to be one of the most haunted places in the nation. If ghosts return to haunt the places where they suffered traumatic experiences when they were alive, then Alcatraz must be bursting at the seams with spirits.
alcatraz ,one of the few places where you can’t run away from the location ,
cause you just run straight into the ocean.
this look like a nightmarish level on call of duty, let’s hop in.
Alcatraz Island initially started as a military fortress with over 100 cannons installed on the Island and a place to hold military prisoners.
by early 1900s it’s main purpose shifted towards a military prison and by 1933 it was used as a maximum security prison used to hold the most incorrigible inmates in federal prisons
aka the most violent and dangerous criminals of its time ,from Al Capone to the birdman . this place was a veritable who’s who for for historical a-holes.
The prison sits 1,5 miles off the san fransisco shore line on 22 acres of jagged rock ,earning the very matter -of -fact nickname ” the Rock”
the places of note included four cell blocks a hosptial an administrativ building and a wreck yard. and overall the prison was big enough to hold 336 prisoners.
the Island prison had the reputation as being nescapable, though many tried. eight definitively dying doing so and three possibly succeeding
cellblock area refeered to as Broadway .
the hospital wing
cellbock D. which along with other solitary confinement cells
also contains the most horrible punishment cell.unaffectionately known as the hole where some believe an inmate was killed by supernatural causes.
the showerroom not surprisingly this is where the inmates showered.
but not all activity here was mundane .as there were two separate occasions of an inmate being stabbed to death.in this room, maurice herring in 1942
and edward Galvin in the adjoining laundry room in 1957.
the visitation room where prisoners would visit with loved ones and yet despite such a tender histroy this room is home to the perhaps the most famous photo of an apparition in ithe entire prison .
the photo was taken in 2014 by two tourists from england named sheila sillory walsh and paul rice. and appears to show the face of a women in a hairstyle from the 1930s or 1940s hwo this womans is and why she showed up to alcatraz ghost picture day is a mystery
next area is cell 402 c which is supposedly haunted by a former guard named officer william miller who was shot to death in this cell. by inthis inmate joe kretzer during an attempted prison break in 1946.
Alcatraz Cellblock, walk of shame
The door and the corridor – Behind a door in Cellblock C that looks as if it has been welded shut, lies the utility corridor where Bernard Coy, Joseph Cretzer and Marvin Hubbard were killed by grenades and bullets during the bloodiest escape attempt in Alcatraz’s history in 1946. Additionally, the attempt took the lives of two guards and injured 18 others. The trial afterward resulted in the execution of two more convicts who took part in the aborted escape. Behind this door can sometimes be heard loud clanging along with the sounds of people running as if trying to escape and disembodied voices. Others have reported seeing the apparitions of men wearing fatigues at the site of the riot that left the three prisoners dead. As a result, this utility corridor is recognized as one of the most haunted spots in the prison.
The laundry room – Also in Cellblock C is the laundry room that is said to hold an unseen presence. The story is told that a hit man named Butcher was killed in the laundry room. The room is said to occasionally emanate a strong odor of smoke, as if something was on fire. The sensation of the choking smoke would drive guards out of the room, only to return a few minutes later, the area now completely smoke free.
The most haunted area on Alcatraz is Cellblock D, or solitary, as it was often called. D-Block, which became known as the Treatment Unit was made up of 42 cells with varying restrictions. None of the prisoners put in D-Block was able to have contact with the general population. These inmates were not allowed to work or go to the mess hall to eat; they had to eat in their cells. They were allowed one visit to the recreation yard and two showers a week. These cells faced the Golden Gate Bridge, from which fierce cold winds often blew and one guard who worked D-Block was notorious for turning on the air conditioning to make it even colder for those confined on the block.
there’s no telling how many people lost their lives in in the hospital wing and that’d ignoring the fact that now lool like arkham asylum.
one particularly famous inmate who spent most of his time in the hospital
is convicted murderer robert stroud. though most people know stroud by his nickname , the birdman, as published book while at alcatraz stroud’s digest on the diseases of birds whas said to be considered quote : an important work in in the field end quote.
it’s a nice rehabilitation , i mean you go from a murderer to writing books about birds.but he did some murdering in prison .there is something tthat’s kind of endering about a very dangerous scary murderer loving birds.
Hydrotherapy Room
One of the rooms in the Hospital wing of Alcatraz
also a lot of patients lost their mind here unfortunately including one Al Capone, the birdman spent a lot of time in this hopstial wing.
next stop , The small barber shop at the end of A-Block served only for the monthly haircuts that the inmates received
this was the location of joseph barsock’s execution via barber scissors to his neck . the executor was freddie curly thomas who also allegedly happened to barsok’s lover .
it said that thomas knelt by barsok’s side repeatedly saying ” i love you” as barsock died . and even in horrifying fashion licked barsok’s blood.
dark cells solitary. in cell block D
cell 14 D .in cell block D.
which was used to house the most most dangerous and violent criminals of the prsion.
cell 14 D was one of five solitary confinement cells in this block or as they were referred to back then ” the hole”
The hole had no bed ,was completely dark and only just a hole for a toilet . it said that prisoners were forced to be naked sleeping on ground of cells that 20 to 30 degree colder then the rest of the prsion .
and the prisoners were not allowed time in the yard, showers, or reading materials. Inmates could be sentenced to up to 19 days in the hole, completely isolated from the rest of the world. Needless to say, these horrible conditions led to misery, anger, and possibly even insanity. That ambiance seems to linger to this day. Most people who go to Cellblock D get feelings of sudden intensity and a feeling of cold in certain cells, especially cell 14-D. This cell is often reported to be 20 degrees colder than the rest of the cells on the block. Psychics who have visited the area reported picking up on the feelings of torture, misery, and abuse that were left behind by 29 years’ worth of prisoners who were forced to stay there. These cells are so eerie that some national park service employees refuse to go there alone.
one inmate may have died of supernatural causes in cell 14 D.legend has it that the inmate saw red glowing eyes and was left screaming in the cell for hours.
A guard who worked at the prison in the 1940’s reported that guards often saw the ghostly presence of a man dressed in late 1800’s prison attire was often seen walking the hallway of “The Hole”. Perhaps the strangest event occured when an inmate locked in a cell in “The Hole” immediately began to scream that someone with glowing eyes was in there with him. The spectral prisoner had become so much of a practical joke among the guards that the convict’s cries were ignored. The inmate’s screams continued well into the night, and then suddenly stopped.
When the guards inspected the cell, the convict was dead with a terrible expression on his face and noticeable handprints around his throat. The autopsy revealed that the strangulation could not have been self-inflicted.
At the time many believed the inmate was strangled by a guard who got tired of hearing the inmate scream, but no one ever admitted to the strangling. Most believed the prisoner was killed by the restless, evil spirit of the nineteenth century prisoner who was so often seen wandering the corridors.
Shane and ryan from Ghost files tries to contact the inmate in 14 D .the hole.
As a footnote to this tale, when the guards lined-up the convicts for the daily count, there was one too many convicts in the line-up. At the end of the row, stood the recently strangled convict. As everyone looked on in stunned silence, the ghostly figure vanished.
As the years go by, ghost hunters, authors, crime buffs and curiosity-seekers continue to visit the island hoping to have their own encounter with the ghosts of Alcatraz. Although most encounter nothing, they do have a tendancy to leave with a feeling of uneasiness. The majority of the ghostly experiences of Alcatraz have been reported by former guards and national park service employees who often spend hours alone on the island. Many claim not to believe in the supernatural but occasionally, one of them will admit that weird things happen here that they cannot explain.
