On March 21, 1963 Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, the world-famous maximum-security prison located on a cold island in the San Francisco Bay, officially closed its doors. As ...

Alcatraz Island, a military fort turned an army prison in the San Francisco Bay, is most well known for operating as a federal prison from 1934 until 1963. That distinction is being challenged after ...

In 1962, three inmates attempted one of the most daring prison escapes in history from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, a place ...

If you can name even one prison, it's probably Alcatraz (no, Azkhaban doesn't count). Located on a rocky island off the coast of San Francisco, California, it's still used as a byword for an ...

Watch recordings of recent KQED Live events. Donor-Advised Funds Support KQED by using your donor-advised fund to make a charitable gift. As all good Bay Area history nerds know, Alcatraz Prison ...