Alcatraz East Alcatraz East Alcatraz East is a crime museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Opened in 2016, it was formerly operated as the National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, DC. The museum gives a behind-the-scenes look at crime history in America. It was created and built by attorney John Morgan, and his Chief Operating Officer, Janine Vaccarello. Alcatraz East is 24,000 square feet, two stories, and is themed as a 19th-century prison, inspired by the infamous Alcatraz island prison in San Francisco. Alcatraz East includes interactive displays and artifacts that cover criminal intent, criminal profiles, the penal system, victim’s stories,
Legends of Alcatraz 25 Scariest Places in the World". Alcatraz Citadel, also known as Fort Alcatraz, was the original military defense and prison on Alcatraz Island. The citadel was built in 1859 as a U.S. Army military defense, and began function as a war camp in 1861 and long-term military prison in 1868. During the American Civil War, the citadel and its batteries provided an important line of defense. The island continued to develop in the 1870s and 1880s, and in 1893, the first hospital on Alcatraz opened. A new upper prison was built in 1904, but after the citadel ceased function as