Trump wants to revive one of the most infamous jails in the country. This is how Alcatraz came to be known.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump declared that he would direct the government to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz, a former prison on the same-named small island off the coast of San Francisco that once held some of the nation's most dangerous criminals, such as James "Whitey" Bulger, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, and Al Capone.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social Sunday that the prison, which closed 60 years ago because of its dilapidated infrastructure and expensive upkeep, “will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.” He later told reporters that the idea was “just an idea” he had as federal judges pushed to ensure deported migrants had due process.

Now a major historical landmark and tourist destination, Alcatraz was once one of the most heavily fortified military sites on the West Coast before it transformed into a notorious federal penitentiary in 1934.

As a maximum-security prison surrounded by the Pacific’s strong, cold currents, Alcatraz had a reputation for being a “last resort” facility where the most dangerous and most unruly in other prisons were sent. It was virtually impossible to escape, despite numerous storied attempts.

Here’s what else to know about its colorful history:

"Minimum privilege, maximum security"

Because of its advantageous location at the mouth of San Francisco Bay, the island of Alcatraz was perfect for defense.

In the 1850s, as US interests in the Pacific grew, the US Army constructed a fort there and furnished it with the cannon required to defend the port from foreign invasion. During the Civil War, it was also employed to defend San Francisco against Confederate raids. It soon became a military jail, where it stayed until the 20th century.

The US military handed up Alcatraz to the Department of Justice in 1933, marking the start of the island's nearly three-decade tenure as a federal prison. "The Rock," as it became known, was designed to send a message to offenders with its remote location and basic amenities.

To deal with the most unruly inmates in Federal prisons and to demonstrate to the law-abiding public that the Federal Government was serious about curbing the widespread crime of the 1920s and 1930s, the Federal Bureau of Prisons stated that it had made the decision to establish a maximum-security, minimum-privilege penitentiary.

Food, clothes, shelter, and medical care were the four rights that prisoners at Alcatraz possessed; all additional benefits, such as family visits or access to literature, art supplies, and music, had to be earned.

Despite its notoriety, Alcatraz typically housed between 260 and 275 inmates at any given time, which is less than 1% of all inmates housed in federal prisons. The majority of the prisoners were classified as "escape risks" or those who disobeyed regulations at other federal prisons.

The escape in 1962 that made the jail famous

Over its 29 years as a federal prison, Alcatraz saw 14 distinct escape attempts by 36 men. According to official records, nobody ever made it to the mainland alive.

Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin made the most successful—and complex—escape attempt in 1962, when they disappeared from their cells and were never seen again. The 1979 Clint Eastwood film "Escape from Alcatraz" depicted the escape.

An "ingenious" plot that was developed over several months was discovered during the FBI's investigation into the escape.

The prisoners created a makeshift workshop on top of their cellblock by excavating through air ducts behind their cells with spoons and handmade tools, such as a drill constructed from a vacuum cleaner motor.

They used plaster to make lifelike heads of themselves, complete with actual human hair. Investigators discovered that the men used heat from steam pipes to seal the materials while they covertly put together a makeshift raft and life jackets consisting of over fifty stolen raincoats.

They tricked the night guards by slipping out of their cells with their false heads on the night of their escape. After cutting up a ventilator shaft on the prison's roof and temporarily fastening it with a soap bolt, they proceeded to crawl through it.

The party is thought to have vanished into the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay without ever making it to land. Although no bodies were ever found, the FBI determined they most likely drowned.

The case has been open for decades due to sporadic sightings and clues.

The "Alcatraz Birdman"

Robert Stroud, known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz" due to his subsequent interest in ornithology, or the study of birds, was one of the most well-known inmates of Alcatraz.

After killing a prison guard, Stroud was given a life term in solitary confinement at Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas after being first imprisoned for manslaughter in 1909.

Stroud started rearing canaries and studying birds while incarcerated. He went on to write reputable books about bird illnesses. Prison officials eventually discovered that materials Stroud had requested for his experiments were used to build a still for “home-brew,” despite the fact that he was permitted to carry out his research in his cell, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

In 1942, Stroud was moved to Alcatraz, where he was prohibited from keeping birds. He passed just four years after leaving Alcatraz for another institution in 1959.

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