BGuthrie Photos: CA -- San Francisco -- Golden Gate NRA -- Alcatraz Island

CA -- San Francisco -- Golden Gate NRA -- Alcatraz Island:

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. ALC_041102_029.JPG: Famous inmates: George "Machine Gun" Kelly -- Kidnapping, 1934-1951 Al "Scarface" Capone -- Tax evasion, 1934-1939 Robert Stroud "Birdman of Alcatraz" -- Manslaughter, Murder, 1942-1959 Meyer "Mickey" Cohen -- Racketeering, 1961-1962 Alvin "Creepy" Karpis -- Kidnapping, Bank Robbery, 1936-1962 Arthur "Doc" Barker -- Kidnapping 1935-1939
2. ALC_041102_033.JPG: This is the lighthouse, in front of the main cellhouse. The first lighthouse here was built in 1854. The 84-foot tall one here now was built in 1909.
3. ALC_041102_052.JPG: Warning: Persons procuring or concealing escape of prisoners are subject to prosecution and imprisonment.
4. ALC_041102_070.JPG: On the right is the barracks/apartments. Above on the hill you can see the lighthouse and the burned out shell of the warden's house (destroyed in 1970). To the right of that is the main cellhouse.
5. ALC_041102_089.JPG: United States Penitentiary: Alcatraz Island. Area: 12 acres. 1-1/2 miles to transport dock. Only government boats permitted. Others must keep off 200 yards. No one allowed ashore without a pass. "Indians Welcome... Indian Land"
6. ALC_041102_106.JPG: Since Alcatraz was originally built as a fort, the building, erected in 1857, has two 24-pound howitzers to guard the entrance.
7. ALC_041102_138.JPG: Control Center. Here guards monitored the prison's security systems and communications 24 hours a day. The central weapons arsenal was also in the control center -- the most secure room on the island.
8. ALC_041102_151.JPG: Visitation rules and regulations, USP, Alcatraz. You are allowed one visit each month from members of your immediate family or other approved visitors. Visiting hours are approximately 1:30pm - 3:10pm weekdays. All personal visits you will confine your talk to personal matters and refrain from discussing other inmates, institutional matters, etc. Physical contact shall not be allowed. Food and beverages are not permitted. Interviewers and inmates shall remain seated during the visit. Inmates shall not smoke. Visits with your attorney of record may be arranged through the office of the associate warden. Violation of rules and regulations may result in termination of visitation room privileges.
9. ALC_041102_216.JPG: The audio tour pointed out that the cells with the flat bars, like these, were the older cells, dating back to when these were holding areas for Army screw-ups. The newer cells had round bars. A-Block: The Army built this cellhouse in 1912. When it was remodeled into a Federal Penitentiary in 1934, A-Block was not modernized. It still retains the old flat bars and key locks of the military prison days. During the Federal Penitentiary years, 1934-1963, prisoners were almost never kept in A-Block. These cells were used for study areas, typing rooms, and storage of cleaning materials.
10. ALC_041102_217.JPG: Convicts: Inmates were transferred to Alcatraz from other Federal prisons. Their average stay on the island was 8 years. Most were eventually transferred back to other Federal institutions. Only a few were paroled directly to the outside world. Correctional officers: Guards on Alcatraz were properly titled "Correctional Officers." They were among the most highly qualified in the Federal prison system. They maintained constant surveillance over the inmates, and there was one staff member for every three prisoners.
11. ALC_041102_221.JPG: This had been the barbershop area. An older photo (next) shows you what it used to look like.
12. ALC_041102_265.JPG: One of the cells that's thought to have housed Al Capone.
13. ALC_041102_270.JPG: Guards could train machine guns on inmates through here
14. ALC_041102_276.JPG: On the left is the prison cells. On the right, guards could walk up and down behind the bars and keep a watch on them from the gun gallery.
15. ALC_041102_307.JPG: The metal detector on the right could be used to scan prisoners. It was very sensitive.
16. ALC_041102_365.JPG: The silhouettes pointed out where each knife had to be at the end of the meal. If something was missing, guards could spot it easily.
17. ALC_041102_378.JPG: Dining room: Inmates were served three meals a day. The men thought the food was the best in the Federal prison system, and there was plenty of it. Tear gas canisters were mounted in the ceiling in case of trouble. They were never used.
18. ALC_041102_416.JPG: D Block. This is where inmates were held for penalty purposes.
19. ALC_041102_426.JPG: Recreation Yard. There were a couple of these. The yard was the only part of the "outside world" available to many of the inmates. Baseball, handball, checkers, dominoes and horseshoes were popular games. No gambling was allowed. Some men preferred to simply sit in the sun or pace the yard.
20. ALC_041102_458.JPG: We're in D block. The folks are being punished here and there are cells in front of their cells to keep them from trying to grab anyone. The ones on the far end have solid doors and the prison's life suddenly became very dark.
21. ALC_041102_472.JPG: In the hole, the outer doors could be shut and no light would come in. One prisoner on the tape talked about tossing a button into the air and then looking for it in the dark. Then tossing it up again.... Just to pass the time.
22. ALC_041102_474.JPG: Cell 42 was frequently where Robert Stroud, the so-called "Birdman of Alcatraz," was held.
23. ALC_041102_507.JPG: This room housed the library. The Battle of Alcatraz: On May 2, 1946, six convicts attempted to escape. Led by Bernie Coy, who worked in this room as a librarian, the men overpowered several guards. They broke into the gun gallery, stole two guns, and several keys, and took control of the cellhouse. The prisoners were never able to get out of the building. It took three days for the Alcatraz guard staff, San Francisco Police, the Marines, and the Coast Guard to regain control. Two guards and three inmates (including Coy) were killed. Two of the other inmates were executed for their role and the remaining man, aged 19 at the time, was sentenced to life.
24. ALC_041102_539.JPG: The key could be hung here out of reach of the prisoners for any guard going down to check out the cells.
25. ALC_041102_563.JPG: Out of Alcatraz -- By a Spoon: June 11, 1962: The motion picture "Escape from Alcatraz" told the story of the real 1962 escape attempt by Frank Morris and two brothers, John and Clarence Anglin. The three inmates manufactured crude tools, life-like dummy heads, false air vent grates, and life jackets from work and hobby materials. On June 11, 1962, they left the dummy heads in their bunks to conceal their escape, crawled into the utility corridor through air vents in the backs of their cells, climbed to the top of the cellblock, out onto the roof through a ventilator, then down to the water's edge. They left Alcatraz wearing homemade inflatable life jackets. There is no evidence that any of them survived the swift currents and frigid waters.
26. ALC_041102_593.JPG: After digging out of their cells, the three escapes went up the walls here and made it to the roof and then left.
27. ALC_041102_622.JPG: Notice the two holes on the left on the wall. After awhile, the prison added piped in sound so prisoners could listen to music or something.
28. ALC_041102_658.JPG: Hospital rules & Regulations, USP, Alcatraz. Medical attention is available to all inmates. A daily sick-call in main cellhouse at 12:30pm Notify an officer for medical attention. When you receive a medical lay-in, you will remain in your cell except for religious services, meals, and movies. If you are notified by the medical officer at sick-call remain in your cell for hospital call-out, you must do so. Keep only those medications issues to by the hospital staff in your cell. Empty and unused bottles are to be returned to the west end desk. No medications will be kept in your cell longer than 30 days.
29. ALC_041102_659.JPG: There are a couple of these piles of rubble on the island. I'm not sure what they're there for but they're even on the map.
30. ALC_041102_701.JPG: The water tower's next to one of the recreation yards. Note the guard booth.
31. ALC_041102_762.JPG: A former inmate, Darwin Coon. He's hawking a book called "Alcatraz, the True End of the Line."
32. ALC_041102_790.JPG: Alcatraz Island in San Francisco
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Wikipedia Description: Alcatraz Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alcatraz Island (sometimes informally referred to as simply Alcatraz or by its pop-culture name, The Rock) is a smaller island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay in California, United States. It served as a lighthouse, then a military fortification, then a military prison followed by a federal prison until 1963. It became a national recreation area in 1972 and received landmarking designations in 1976 and 1986. Today, the island is a historic site operated by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is open to tours. Visitors can reach the island by ferry ride from Pier 33, near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.
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2004 photos: Equipment this year: I bought two Fujifilm S7000 digital cameras. While they produced excellent images, I found all of the retractable-lens Fuji models had a disturbing tendency to get dust inside the lens. Dark blurs would show up on the images and the camera had to be sent back to the shop in order to get it fixed. I returned one of the cameras when the blurs showed up in the first month. I found myself buying extended warranties on cameras. Trips this year: (1) Margot and I went off to Scotland for a few days, my first time overseas. (2) I went to Hawaii on business (such a deal!) and extended it, spending a week in Hawaii and another in California. (3) I went to Tennessee to man a booth and extended it to go to my third Fan Fair country music festival. Number of photos taken this year: 110,000.
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