An aerial view of Alcatraz before its closure in 1963.

Several photographs from 1962, showing the severe deterioration of the concrete structure.

The base of the north wall of the utility corridor inside the main cellhouse. Senior Officer James Lewis is seen indicating the gaps that had appeared in the crumbling cement, due to years of environmental corrosion.

In the autumn months of 1962, the Federal Bureau of Prisons started to transfer inmates to other institutions, and prepared to shut down the facility. Bureau Director James Bennett wrote:

During the 1960's, financial considerations determined the issue and freed me from my dilemma. Alcatraz's buildings and steel towers were gradually being eroded by the salt spray, and would cost several million dollars to restore. The cost of supplying the island prison was exorbitant since food and water had to be brought across the bay. Alcatraz was also expensive to run, because it was located far from the continental center of population, far from most of the other prisons, and men had to be transported long distances from and back to the East and Middle West.

The daily per-prisoner operating costs at Alcatraz were far higher than at any other federal institution. So we drew up plans for a new maximum security prison to be built in the heart of the continent at Marion, Illinois, which could be built and operated at a lower cost. When the federal funds were made available for the new prison, we could close Alcatraz down

On March 21, 1963, the final day of operation for Alcatraz, Warden Blackwell invited a press pool to witness the last small group of inmates leaving the Rock. On that day, twenty-seven inmates filed into the Mess Hall for the last time, and lined up at the steam tables for one final breakfast. Even on the last day of the prison’s operation, the meal period would last only twenty minutes, as the Warden was determined to adhere to the rigid regulations right up to the final hour. While the inmates sat in the Mess Hall, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Prisons Fred T. Wilkinson answered questions for the press, and took reporters on a brief tour of the cellhouse. After the inmates had filed back to their cells, each one was met by an officer and then handcuffed and shackled, and prepared for final departure.

Correctional Officer Keith Dennison standing guard inside the main cellhouse corridor on the day of the prison’s closure.

The inmates stood quietly until the cellhouse officer gave the final signal to march quietly down Broadway in a single-file procession. There were only the eerie sounds of the inmates’ shackles, and the snapping shutters from the press-pool cameras. Several men covered their faces as the flash bulbs burst off in quick succession, trying to capture the final march of prisoners at Alcatraz. Interestingly enough, the last inmate to be incarcerated at Alcatraz would also be the last to leave. Frank C. Weatherman, inmate #AZ-1576, was the last inmate to board the prison launch. When the press asked him how he felt about the closure, he uttered what would become the prison’s eulogy: “Alcatraz was never good for anybody.”  The members of the press were then invited back into the cellhouse for coffee and donuts in the Mess Hall. Meanwhile the remaining officers left their posts and secured their weapons for the last time. USP Alcatraz then closed its doors after twenty-nine years of operation.

The final march down Broadway by the last group of inmates, on March 21, 1963. The prisoners were subjected to the strict Alcatraz regimen even in the final hours of the prison’s operation.

Frank C. Weatherman was the last inmate to be incarcerated at Alcatraz.

Correctional officers watching a plane carrying the last group of prisoners from Alcatraz, as it took off from San Francisco International Airport after the closing of the prison on March 21, 1963.

During the history of Alcatraz as a Federal prison, there were 1576 register numbers issued, with twenty-eight inmates receiving two numbers under separate prison terms. Theodore “Blackie” Audett would be alone in the distinction of having been issued three numbers, for three separate terms at Alcatraz. In the final assessment, 1546 inmates served time at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.

Theodore “Blackie” Audett would hold the unique distinction of being the only inmate ever to serve three separate terms at Alcatraz.

In July of 1964, the abandoned prison was turned over to the General Services Agency, which offered use of the property to other governmental agencies. John Hart, a former correctional officer at Alcatraz, remained on the island with his family as a lighthouse keeper and caretaker for the island. They continued to receive the San Francisco Chronicle, which was regularly dropped by a news helicopter, but otherwise lived in relative isolation.

The island remained essentially abandoned while several parties presented proposals for its use, ranging from erecting a West Coast version of the Statue of Liberty, to building a monument in honor of America’s Space Program, complete with a memorial modeled on an Apollo space capsule. In June of 1968, San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto issued an appeal for public propositions. After a series of long battles and debates, which included an acceptance by the board of a proposal by Texas millionaire Lamar Hunt to develop the island as commercial property, the Secretary for the Department of the Interior ordered a draft plan for public recreational use of the abandoned prison site. But the battles over Alcatraz were not yet over. A group of Native American activists would also choose the island as the ideal place to make a political stand.

The Indian Occupation

On November 20, 1969, a large group of American Indians landed on Alcatraz and claimed it for the Indian Nation. They offered to purchase the island for twenty-four dollars, payable in beads and red cloth – the same amount paid by the government to natives for “a similar island 300 years ago.”

A Native American tee-pee is clearly visible next to one of the island pathways in 1970. This was a symbol of their quest for peace and freedom.