Award Winning Alcatraz Cellhouse Audio Tour - Alcatraz Visit Part 2

San Francisco (Alaska Pre Cruise) . 2012 . September 13

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

This post is a continuation of Exploring Alcatraz Island, San Francisco - Alcatraz Visit Part 1.

The highlight of our Alcatraz visit was definitely the award-winning Alcatraz Cellhouse Audio Tour. The 45 minute audio tour brings history alive through the actual voices of the correctional officers and inmates who lived on the island during the infamous Federal Penitentiary era.

The new Cellhouse Audio Tour is an expanded version of the original award-winning tour and includes new stories, new narrators, and explores new areas of the Cellhouse. The tour is available in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Mandarin, Portuguese and Korean.

Welcome to the Main Prison!  

Making our way into the main prison at the entrance of the tour...

"Break the rules and you go to prison, break the prison rules and you got to Alcatraz." - this quote is so true...

Before we began, we thought it might be useful to provide the Alcatraz Cellhouse map so that you can follow our review. We found this fairly detailed map from http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/interiorpage.htm.

Alcatraz Main Prison Layout (Credits: http://www.alcatrazhistory.com)

You might be surprise to know that the main prison here in Alcatraz was never filled to its capacity. The highest occupancy was at 320 with the average at approximately 260 and the lowest at 222. There were a total of 1,576 inmate numbers issued, but the actual number of prisoners were fewer. This is because some inmates served multiple terms and there was no consistent policy regarding giving returning inmates new numbers or reissuing them theire previous numbers.

Hey..this one seems available for the night..just joking..:)

Walkways in the prison were named after famous US Streets including Broadway, Michigan Avenue and Timesquare.

There are four cellblocks in the three-storey prison. Block A was not used to house inmates during the fedeal penitentiary years. Cells in Blocks B and C (336 cells) were for the "general population" while unruly inmates were housed in Block D (42 cells - 36 segregation cells and 6 solitary confinement cells), also known as isolation.

The cells in Blocks B and C measure around 5 feet by 9 feet each, with a small sink running cold water, a small sleeping cot, a toilet basin and a small table.

A copy of Alcatraz's Rules and Regulations left on the small table.

Inmates were allowed to "decorate" their cells with their limited personal belongings. Here are some examples of how some of the cells of the inmates look like.

It looks like an artist inmate stayed in this cell before.

After completing Blocks B and C, the audio tour brings us to a place with a nice view..and that's the Recreation Yard. Check out the map below that we found on alcatrazhistory.com for its location on Alcatraz island.

Alcatraz Map (Credits: http://www.alcatrazhistory.com)

The Recreation Yard is the place that we are sure most inmates will love the most. In a prison of strict rules, this big open space offers them rare freedom of movement, association and choice. Some inmates chose to play baseball or run laps around the yard. Others simply sit at the steps to admire the fantastic scenery that they have been missing.

After enjoying the breeze and open space at the Recreation Yard, it was back to the cells, this time at Block D.

The cells here are more spacious, but they were still the least popular as inmates here were isolated and confined to their cells all day and they were allowed to go to the recreation yard only once per week, and these visits were alone.

On the wall, there were photos of some of the inmates that had stayed here.

There were six closed-front cells at Block D, called the Hole. These were for the most severe disciplinary problems. We tried walking into the cell and it was already very dark. We can't imagine the total darkness once the doors are closed!

A number of inmates seek mental escape through books. Liberate convicts read 75 to 100 books a year. There were around 15,000 books in the library which include philosophy, fiction and educational material.

Besides visiting the Recreation Yard and the Library, the other thing that inmates look forward to will be the visits from their immediate family members or approved visitors. They are allowed one visit each month lasting around 1 and a half hour on weekdays.

Correctional officers led a life watching and waiting during their seemingly endless eight-hour tower watch.

 The Warden's Office with the photos of the past occupants and a model of Alcartraz.

As you walk out of the Warden's office, you can see the Warden's House in a run down condition.

However, the view there is fantastic! You would be able to enjoy some great views of San Francisco mainland. We can imagine that the warden must have enjoyed a great stay there when the house was in a perfect condition.

You can even see the Golden Gate Bridge on a good day!

Its an irony that Alcratraz has one of the best view of the city skyline.

If you are not rush for time, you may also want to take a short walk at the West Side Gardens near the Parade Grounds.

 After the gardens, its back to a visit to the Administration Building.

 We had a sneek peep into the Control Room.

Towards the end of the tour, we were brought to the Dining Hall where the inmates had their meals.

Notice the shadow boards for the knifes. This is to ensure that every knife is accounted for after a meal. You wouldn't want one to go missing, especially with the inmates in Alcartraz.

Escape Attempts

There have been many escape attempts on Alcatraz, but the most significant one occurred from 2 to 4 May 1946 and was appropriately christened the "Battle of Alcatraz".  An imate named Bernie Coy would slip through the bars of the gun gallery using a bar spreader to force the bars apart. He then use the guns and keys to free five accomplices and tried to race to shore. However it all went wrong.

At the end of the escape attempt, fourteen guards and one inmate were left injured, while two correctional officers and three inmates lay dead from bullet wounds.

If you are interested to read the full story of what happened, you might want to visit the Alcatraz History website for more details.




Gun Galley at Alcatraz where Bernie Coy took the guns.

 In memoriam of William A. Miller, the correctional officers who hid the key.

The damage on the floor is still visible to this day.


On 11 June 1962, another elaborate escape attempt was tried and until now remain a mystery case, this time by an inmate named Frank Lee Morris and the Brothers John and Clarence Anglin. The escape plan took several months to design, and it would involve the design and fabrication of ingenious lifelike dummies, water rafts, and life preservers, fashioned from over fifty rain coats that had been acquired from other inmates - some donated and some stolen. There was a fourth man, Allen West, who occupied an adjacent cell, involved in the extermely complex plan.

In December 1961, West started collecting old saw blades found in one of the utility corridors while cleaning. By May 1962, Morris and the Anglins had already dug through the cell's six-by-nine-inch vent holes with spoons over the course of a year, and had started work on the vent on top of the cellblock.

 The inmates alternated shifts, with one working and one on lookout. They would start work at 5:30 p.m. and continue till about 9:00 p.m., just prior to the lights-out count. Meanwhile John and Clarence started fabricating the dummy heads, and even gave them the pet names of "Oink" and "Oscar." The heads were crude but lifelike, and were made from a mixture of soap, toilet paper and real human hair from the barber shop. On the night of escape, they left them in their beds to fool prison officers making night-time inspections.

Dummy head found in Morris' cell (Credits: Wikipedia)

On the day of the escape, they escaped from their cells by crawling through holes in the cell walls into an unused service corridor. West could not make it out of his cell and was left behind. From the service corridor they climbed a ventilation shaft to reach the roof. The trio then climbed down from the rooftop, scaled the prison's fence and assembled a raft from the prison's standard-issue raincoats and contact cement. They pumped up the raft on the northeastern coast of the island. At around 10 p.m. they climbed aboard, shoved off, and started paddling towards freedom.

The next morning police searched for the escapees on Alcatraz and Angel Island without success. An investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation was begun as well.

Remnants of the raft, paddles, and a bag containing the Anglins' personal effects were found on Angel Island.  The case was closed by the FBI on December 31, 1979, after a 17-year investigation which concluded that the prisoners drowned in the cold waters of the bay while trying to reach the mainland.

Although the case has been closed, there have been attempts to reinvestigate the case by interested parties. In the first season of Mythbusters (eighth episode, first aired December 12, 2003) the feasibility of escaping Alcatraz on a makeshift raft was tested and judged to be possible. On a National Geographic program in 2011, investigators had found footprints leading away from the raft on Angel Island, and had also identified a blue Chevrolet car stolen that night, contrary to the FBI report that claimed that no car or clothing thefts were found on that night.

Alcatraz Souvenir Shop

The tour ended with a final stop at the souvernir shop and there were quite a number of interesting items, including inmate caps and their trayz and mugs.

Overall, it has been a real eye opener for us visitng Alcatraz. The cellhouse audio tour was very structured with interesting commentry, allowing you to visit all parts of the main prision and its vicinity. We would strongly recommend that you visit Alcatraz during your trip to San Francisco!

This post is a continuation of Exploring Alcatraz Island, San Francisco - Alcatraz Visit Part 1.

If you have come here through a search engine, do click here to read Part 1 of this post.

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

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