Why America is still obsessed with Alcatraz

Alcatraz became famous as a prison. It stayed famous as a myth. And now, more than 60 years after the last inmate left, that myth is powerful enough that President Donald Trump wants to turn it back into a prison.

For 29 years, from 1934 to 1963, Alcatraz served as America’s most notorious federal penitentiary. Built on 22 acres of rock in the middle of San Francisco Bay, it was designed for the men who could not be held anywhere else: Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, Robert Stroud — the so-called “Birdman of Alcatraz” — and later Whitey Bulger.

Part of the cruelty was the view. Prisoners could see San Francisco from the recreation yard. According to legend, on quiet nights they could even hear New Year’s Eve parties drifting across the water — laughter, music, and women’s voices just a mile and a half away.

The prison’s reputation was cemented by escape attempts. The FBI says 36 men tried to flee Alcatraz in 14 different attempts. Most were caught. Some were killed. Some drowned. Officially, no one is known to have escaped and survived.

But the story that still haunts the island came in 1962, when Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin slipped through holes they had carved behind their cells, left papier-mâché dummy heads in their beds, and pushed into the bay on a raft made from raincoats. The FBI says they drowned. The US Marshals Service has kept the case open.

Alcatraz closed in 1963 because the same things that made it seem impossible also made it impractical: water, supplies, aging buildings and enormous repair costs.

Since then, it has been a Native American protest site, a National Park tourist attraction, a movie set, a true-crime obsession and a political symbol. Now, with talk of reopening it as a prison, the question is not just whether Alcatraz could function again — but why America still wants it to.

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