Alcatraz sponsored several social clubs, including an all-girls club for teenagers called “Just Us Girls,” and kids’ clubs for the younger residents.

A children’s Sunday School class.

The small convenience store run by residents inside Building #64.

Alcatraz had its own post office and unique postmark.

Playground equipment built for the officers’ children by prison labor at Alcatraz. The cement slide was a favorite among the children, but was finally scrapped after the exposed steel at the slide’s edge tore a fair share of children’s clothing.

Alcatraz featured several recreational facilities for residents, including an indoor handball court, a pool hall, a two-lane bowling alley in the Officers’ Club, a soda fountain often manned by off-duty guards, a gymnasium, and a dance hall for island parties.

A teenage Christmas dance held inside the Officer’s Club.

Former resident Chuck Stucker recalled that some of his fondest memories were of fishing off Alcatraz as a child.

In August of 1954, Collier’s Magazine ran a feature story by Gitta Parker entitled Children on Alcatraz, describing their unique lifestyle:

The children and their parents occupy apartments and cottages dotting a four-acre section on the south tip of Alcatraz. Three hundred feet of distance and a barrier of steel towers, concrete walls, and armed men separate the circle of homes from the prison heights. From their windows, the happy boys and girls of Alcatraz have an unequaled view of one of the world’s great panoramas: the breathtaking Golden Gate and the cities perched around the Bay. Much closer at hand, they look down to the bottom of the island and glimpse convicts loading wash from the prison laundry onto barges for delivery to nearby government installations. Otherwise, the only prisoners the children see are the three or four trustees assigned to collect garbage and tend gardens in the residential area.

Although it was uncommon, there were some unavoidable instances when a resident would come in contact with an inmate. One former resident recalled an occasion when he had thrown a ball over a link fence and an inmate passed it back a few days later. Another remembered an incident when an inmate was tending a garden and left a small flower bouquet with a perfectly tied ribbon made from a vine on a cement step. The families were instructed that if they should come in contact with an inmate, they were to treat him respectfully, but not engage in conversation. Kathryn O’Brien related one interesting story:

“I have a vivid memory inside our apartment located in Building #64. I can remember seeing a small group of inmates chained in handcuffs and leg irons, and were being led from the prison boat to a small bus. My brother and me watched from a window as the inmates took small steps with the chains hampering their movement, and we could hear the guards talking to them. Thinking back, I guess it was kind of scary... I had made one of those colored paper link chain ornaments that I made in crafts for our little Christmas tree. I took it off the tree and had my brother place his hands and feet through the links and marched him around the apartment like he was a convict. I can remember my dad didn’t think it was too funny... You couldn’t help be influenced by the prison to at least some degree. It was a constant presence. Strangely enough though, my dad never talked about it. Even after he left the job, he always changed the subject when people would ask him questions about Alcatraz.”

Gardens flourished on Alcatraz in the moist and rich ocean breeze. Gardening was one of the preferred pastimes among the island residents.

Childhood resident Jackie Burdett is seen here posing next to one of the neighborhood flower gardens in 1938.

The garden located in the Warden’s side yard.

Mug shots of inmate and prison gardener Elliott Michener. It is believed that Michener was responsible for introducing many rare and unique botanical varieties to the Alcatraz landscape.

The new apartment buildings under construction in 1941, with San Francisco and the Bay Bridge notably visible in the background.

The new apartment buildings as they appeared in the 1950’s.

An aerial photograph with the residential living quarters in prominent view. Note the lawn and garden perimeter of the Associate Warden and Captain of the Guard duplex (bottom center of the parade ground), and the four officers’ cottages (right).

The duplex that housed the Associate Warden and Caption of the Guards.

Like their neighbors living “up top” in the cellhouse, the families were also subject to firm rules. The residents were not allowed to explore the island, and could only venture into approved non-restricted areas. No dogs or cats were allowed and there were strict curfews. Family members were required to stay at home after 9:00 p.m. on weekdays and after 11:00 p.m. on weekends. If anyone missed the last boat from the mainland, they would be stranded in San Francisco until morning. The families’ lives were governed by the boat schedule. There was only one telephone available for island residents to use, though another was added later. There was a post office, and also a small convenience store that carried a very basic variety of household foods and supplies. Phil Bergen would comment about life at Alcatraz: