See what it’s like to visit Alcatraz Island, the tourist attraction Trump wants to turn back into a prison

San Franciscans can see the island from another famous tourist spot, Fisherman’s Wharf.

Ferries from a private company, Alcatraz City Cruises, are the only way to access the island. Tickets for adults start at $47.95. Sometimes they sell out as much as a month in advance. 

He called it Isla de los Alcatraces, named for the strange birds, likely pelicans, found there. The name was later anglicized to Alcatraz Island, according to the National Park Service.

In 1850, the same year California became a state, President Millard Fillmore signed an order reserving the island for military use. Army engineers built a fortress and placed cannons around the island to protect it from foreign attack.

The government seized a ship belonging to Confederate sympathizers who wanted to capture San Francisco Bay. The US Navy brought the ship and the plot’s orchestrators to Alcatraz.

In 1912, the 600-cell holding complex was completed by the military prisoners. A dining hall and hospital were also constructed. In 1933, the facility was transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The cell house was built in 1912 on top of the citadel fortress, which was leveled in 1909.

It’s where guards would sound the alarm that went out to the whole island if they witnessed anything out of the ordinary, per NPS.

The sign is on the cell house, the island’s main building.

The recording includes interviews with former prisoners, correctional officers, and family members to depict the experience of living on the island.

The island’s rugged terrain made it difficult to flee. The tiny cells meant only a single person could stay in them, reducing the opportunity for clashes between prisoners.

The prison had enough space for 336 prisoners, but the population typically averaged around 260 to 275, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

This area held the most dangerous inmates, according to NPS. Those who broke the rules could be punished with hard labor or solitary confinement, where they’d only be given bread and water.

It was nicknamed “the gas chamber” because of the 14 tear-gas dispensers mounted on the ceiling, according to NPS.

Sharp bones were removed, and the coffee wasn’t hot enough to scald.

Alcatraz’s food was considered better than most other prisons’.

For dinner, the incarcerated men would eat soup, salad or vegetables, a starch like rice or pasta, meat, and dessert.

Prisoners showered regularly and wore clean clothes, making Alcatraz “probably the cleanest institution of its kind,” according to one prison official from the 1930s.

Every person incarcerated on the island received food, clothing, and medical care, but privileges like visitors, art supplies, and a job had to be earned.

The wardens and their families lived in a 15-room mansion next to the cell blocks. All that’s left of the building is its concrete frame following a fire in 1970.

The men made furniture and canvas gloves, earning 7 cents an hour, Alcatraz Ranger John Cantwell said at a presentation to the San Francisco Public Library in 2017.

During their free time, the incarcerated men would play instruments, write letters, or watch movies, per NPS.

Softball and bridge were other popular pastimes.

Five of those prisoners were never found and are presumed to have drowned.

The men climbed through a chiseled cell air vent and escaped the island using a raft made from raincoats.

Nobody knows what happened to them, although the FBI says it is unlikely they survived the journey to shore. Clint Eastwood portrayed Morris in the 1979 movie “Escape from Alcatraz.”

It had become too pricey to run, costing three times as much as other prisons to operate. Over its 29 years as a federal penitentiary, it held 1,576 inmates.

The activists requested the deed to the island, hoping to open a university and museum there. Almost two years later, on June 11, 1971, President Nixon sent federal troops to clear the island, ending the occupation.

It opened to the public the following year.

The gardens deteriorated after the prison closed but have since been restored.

Some areas are off-limits to visitors because they’re deteriorating.

Trying to reopen the site as a prison would take an enormous amount of work, Hugh Hurwitz, former acting director of the Bureau of Prisons, told the BBC.

“It’s not realistic to think you can repair it,” he said. “You’d have to tear it up and start over.”