San Francisco’s Alcatraz Island set on shark-infested waters was the perfect location for America’s most wanted criminals but building the maximum-security penitentiary wasn’t perfected in a day, FOX Business' "American Built" explores.
After San Francisco’s devastating earthquake in 1906, the city’s prisons were left overwhelmed with relocations which led Sheriff Thomas O’Neil to formulate the plan to move prisoners to Alcatraz Island – a then-military prison originally meant to guard the strait in between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay.
Author of "Alcatraz: The Official Guide" Paul McHugh explained that if O’Neil planned to relocate prisoners to Alcatraz that the institution would have to be rebuilt to be much more manageable and secure. As a result, the military hired construction expert Maj. Reuben B. Turner to rebuild the prison for $250,000.
