1934 Postcard of Alcatraz Island

Alcatraz Island, located in the San Francisco Bay in California, was developed as
a military prison (1868), and a federal prison beginning in 1933.

Because the penitentiary was becoming more costly to operate than other prisons,
coupled with the salt water erosion of the buildings, Attorney General Robert F.
Kennedy ordered the facility closed. The U.S. Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois
opened as the replacement for Alcatraz.

Today, the island’s facilities are managed by the National Park Service as part of
the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is open to tours.

Robert F. Kennedy