Alcatraz is one of the most legendary and feared prisons in the world. This island jail has always loomed large in popular culture. Hollywood has based several feature films around the prison, including
Escape from Alcatraz
,
Point Blank
,
Birdman of Alcatraz
and
The Rock
. Alcatraz is located on an island in San Francisco Bay. It's an unforgiving place for people yet takes its name from the birds that thrive there. Alcatraz was a prison off and on for over 100 years, first for the US Army and later for the federal government. Now that the prison no longer operates, interested parties can tour the facilities. The Alcatraz Night Tour includes ferry transportation and an intimate island experience.
Alcatraz's location made it a perfect location for a high-security prison. During your Alcatraz Night Tour, you can learn all about this history of incarceration. The US Army began to use the island as a jail in the 1850s. In 1933, the Army turned Alcatraz over to the Justice Department. It was a federal prison for just 30 years, from 1934 until 1963. In October 1973, Alcatraz was first opened to the public. Today, some 1.5 million visitors tour the island annually.
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The Alcatraz Night Tour is held on both land and water. The experience involves a ferry ride to and from the island. There's narration during the ride over to educate the passengers and prepare them for the island. When the ferry docks, a park ranger leads travelers up to the cellhouse, where they can take an audio tour.
The Alcatraz Night Tour is a one-of-a-kind experience. It gives people the opportunity to see a unique historic space and hear an award-winning audio tour. They get to see the prison at nighttime, which gives them some insight into the prisoners' experiences. Visitors also get to see and experience the grounds of the island at night. One huge benefit of the Alcatraz Night Tour is the views. From across the water, the view of San Francisco is truly a thing of beauty. It's one of the most frequently mentioned highlights of the Alcatraz Night Tour.
During its period as a US federal prison, Alcatraz housed some of the most notorious criminals in the country if not the world. Al Capone served four and a half years at Alcatraz, which helped to raise the prison's profile. George Machine Gun Kelly, another prominent Prohibition-era outlaw, spent over a decade in the prison. The famous Birdman of Alcatraz was George Stroud, a convicted murderer who also served time at Leavenworth. The Alcatraz Night Tour lets travelers see where and how these notorious prisoners actually lived
Alcatraz is a National Park today. The parks service maintains the structures on the island and helps maintain the environment for the bird population. Due to the restoration work of the National Park Service's Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Alcatraz Night Tour patrons can see the island in all its glory.
There's nothing quite like the Alcatraz Night Tour. It's spooky, informative, scenic and fun. If this mood is enticing for you, check out the
Peabody Essex Museum
in Salem, Massachusetts; it houses lots of information about the city's famous Witch Trials. Of course, you could also try the
Alcatraz Day Tour
, which lets visitors explore the island in the sunlight.