Alcatraz Citadel having some 111 cannons encircling the island at peak, and was also used as a war camp. During the Civil War, the defense establishment at Alcatraz Citadel had the onerous task to defuse the possibility of any local war between the Union and Confederate supporters who were both part of the population of California, and to protect San Francisco. Ammunition in the form of 10,000 muskets and 150,000 cartridges was supplied to the fort, which made the Fort Alcatraz and the island most impregnable and thus leaving any plans of the Confederate soldiers of taking control of the San Francisco
Alcatraz Dining Hall Alcatraz Dining Hall Alcatraz Dining Hall, often referred to as the Mess Hall, is the dining hall of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary where the prisoners and staff ate their meals. It is a long wing on the west end of the Main Cellhouse of Alcatraz, situated in the center of the island. It is connected to the block by a corridor known as “Times Square”, as it passes beneath a large clock approaching the entrance way to the dining hall. This wing includes the dining hall and the kitchen beyond it. Dining hall protocol was a scripted process, including a whistle