America’s most notorious and, possibly, haunted prison
10.30.2020
A prison needs to be secure, especially when it houses some of the most notorious criminals of all time. An ArcelorMittal legacy company, Bethlehem Steel, provided steel to secure Alcatraz federal prison. Alcatraz, also known as “the rock,” was a military fort in the 1850s, then a military prison and in August of 1934, it became part of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
At that time, steel bars replaced the iron bars of the cells, because steel could withstand a hacksaw.
Alcatraz was positioned on an island in the shark-infested waters and strong currents of San Francisco Bay. That’s why prison authorities believed it was escape proof.
But was it ghost proof?
The prison was home to some famous criminals, including Al Capone. Capone had it easy in a prior incarceration, even running his criminal empire from behind bars. That wasn’t the case at Alcatraz. He received no special treatment and was sick with syphilis most of the time. But during his last days at Alcatraz, he spent time strumming his guitar and some visitors now say you can hear that music throughout the prison.
Others believe that Native American Ghosts haunt “the rock” and some say that cell 14-D, known as “the hole,” where difficult prisoners were isolated, is always freezing cold.
But those steel bars were effective. 26 men tried to escape from Alcatraz. Of those, all but five were captured or shot and killed. The five who disappeared were presumed to have drowned.
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