A Growing Prison Population
There were not many prisoners on the island initially, but the population grew as time passed. The jailhouse there got constructed in 1867, and by 1898, there were around 450 people on the island. In the following decades, even bigger concrete cells got built. These cells make up the largest property on the island, which is still intact.
Things changed in 1933 when they decommissioned the fort’s military aspect. The Bureau of Prisons took over the whole operation. It’s quite crazy to think how many changes the island has gone through since getting handed over to the United States.
