Legends of Alcatraz off on their own accord have all been reported. The Warden's House, now a burnt out shell since the Occupation of Alcatraz, is also reputed to be haunted; during the time of the penitentiary, several guards reported seeing the spectre of a man with mutton-chop sideburns during a party wearing a gray suit and brimmed cap, leaving the room icy cold and extinguishing the fire in the Ben Franklin stove. A phantom lighthouse has also been said to have emerged from the fog of San Francisco bay. Former inmate Leon "Whitey" Thompson, who worked as a guide at Alcatraz for
Alcatraz Island 1906 San Francisco earthquake, civilian prisoners were transferred to Alcatraz for safe confinement. On March 21, 1907, Alcatraz was officially designated as the Western U.S. Military Prison, later Pacific Branch, U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, 1915. In 1909 construction began on the huge concrete main cell block, designed by Major Reuben Turner, which remains the island's dominant feature. It was completed in 1912. To accommodate the new cell block, the Citadel, a three-story barracks, was demolished down to the first floor, which was actually below ground level. The building had been constructed in an excavated pit (creating a dry "moat") to enhance