Pigeon Forge, Tennessee – trip report part 5 – Alcatraz East crime museum
Once we were finished with the Titanic museum, we merged back with the seemingly never ending bumper-to-bumper traffic and made our way back to the Quality Inn hotel. We dropped some stuff off in the room and then walked across 441 to our next stop — Alcatraz East crime museum.
Pigeon Forge – Alcatraz East crime museum – 2018
Pigeon Forge – Alcatraz East crime museum – 2018
Pigeon Forge – Alcatraz East crime museum – 2018
Like many of the newer attractions in Pigeon Forge, Alcatraz East looks really impressive on the outside of the museum. It’s hard to miss the giant fortress / prison, like those jails that were common in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There are bars across the windows, guards in the towers, and even a prisoner trying to make a jail break. The building looks fun in the day, but for a real treat, check out how impressive it looks at night.
Pigeon Forge – Alcatraz East crime museum – 2018
Pigeon Forge – Alcatraz East crime museum – 2018
THE MUSEUM
Alcatraz East crime museum – entrance
Alcatraz East crime museum – entrance
Alcatraz East crime museum – entrance
Entering Alcatraz East is like taking a step into a classic jail house. There’s a mural on the wall telling you a brief history of the museum (it was originally called the National Museum of Crime & Punishment and located in Washington, D.C.). Moving forward and you quickly see that the line queue leading up to the ticket area is made up of steel handcuffs. After acquiring your admission ticket you head up a staircase and begin winding your way along the self-guided tour.
Alcatraz East crime museum – medieval punishment
Alcatraz East crime museum – colonial period
Alcatraz East crime museum – pirates
The tour begins with a look at how crime was handled in the older days, with artifacts and exhibits covering time periods such as medieval, the early days of the American colonies, and even the golden age of pirates in the Caribbean. Scattered throughout the museum are hands-on exhibits and props to use to pose for fun photos.
Alcatraz East crime museum – Old West
Alcatraz East crime museum – Old West
Alcatraz East crime museum – classic gangsters
Alcatraz East crime museum – classic gangsters
Alcatraz East crime museum – classic gangsters
Time advances and you’ll find exhibits featuring the gunslingers of the Old West, and then classic gangsters from the 1920s and 30s. This is where you can see the wooden gun that John Dillinger used to make one of his prison escapes, and you can also see his death mask.
Alcatraz East crime museum – modern crimes
Alcatraz East crime museum – modern crimes
Alcatraz East crime museum – modern crimes
The history of crime continues and makes a jump into modern crimes. In this area are exhibits covering a variety of infamous crimes such as D. B. Cooper‘s hijacking and heist on a Boeing 727, the University of Texas tower shooter, the terror attacks on 9/11, school shootings, and even the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.
Alcatraz East crime museum – CSI experience
Alcatraz East crime museum – CSI experience
Alcatraz East crime museum – CSI experience
After showcasing the history of crime as well as many infamous cases and criminals, Alcatraz East shows how police gather and analyze evidence. There are several hands-on exhibits where you can help “investigate” and learn all about how evidence is used to catch criminals and solve crimes.
Alcatraz East crime museum – police lineup
Alcatraz East crime museum – court room
Alcatraz East crime museum – prison
Alcatraz East crime museum – prison
Up next in the museum is learning about the punishment phase of crime. Here you can stand and be part of a police lineup, see an example of a courthouse, and then learn about the prisons and some of the more famous prisoners throughout history.
Alcatraz East crime museum – capital punishment
Alcatraz East crime museum – capital punishment
The final part of the punishment segment covers one of the most controversial topics — capital punishment (a.k.a. the death penalty). You can pose for photos on a recreation of a ducking chair, and then see a real gas chamber as well as an electric chair, a hangman’s noose, and even syringes used in lethal injection.
Alcatraz East crime museum – criminals’ cars
The Alcatraz East museum doesn’t stop there. At this point you descend down a flight of stairs and are greeted by several cars used by famous criminals. The most obvious vehicle is O. J. Simpson’s white Ford Bronco. The opposite side of the line has Charles Manson’s Volkswagen Beetle.
Alcatraz East crime museum – police experience
Following the cars are a series of exhibits featuring police officers. You can see several different uniforms and accessories, learn about the bomb squad and police dogs, and there are a few hands-on exhibits including a simulated firing range as well as a driving simulator.
Alcatraz East crime museum – exit
The final part of the museum takes a brief look at crime and pop culture, and how one can influence the other. After that is the exit turnstile and the obligatory gift shop. Just like at the Titanic museum, here we purchased a refrigerator magnet as well (as you can probably guess, we collect them on vacations).
FINAL THOUGHTS
Alcatraz East is a really good museum covering a wide variety of topics in the fascinating world of crime and punishment. Outside and throughout the museum you’ll find some fantastic theming and attention to details. There are also numerous hands-on exhibits and several places to pose and have your picture taken.
For me, the museum seemed to be lacking “major” artifacts. It felt like most of the museum’s stories were told through simple signs on the walls rather than seeing the actual tools and equipment used in the crimes. That’s great and all, but I can read about crimes in books back at home, and thanks to the Internet and video sharing sites, there’s tremendous information that can be found outside of the museum, free of charge. While Alcatraz East does have some fascinating exhibits, it seems like too many of the artifacts on display are “low-value” items such as reproductions, movie props, or obscure pieces of evidence connected to a crime.
Despite that shortcoming, Alcatraz East is an impressively large museum. Just when you think that the tour is finished, you go around a corner and see that it keeps going on and on with so many more stories to tell. And then it continues even further and you learn about collecting evidence, the judicial process, the prison systems, and so on. It’s very easy to spend several hours in Alcatraz East and get involved with all of the topics and points of interest.
Is Alcatraz East worth the price of admission?
Yes, but not the full price.
If you’re picky and are looking for a high-quality experience (like at the Smithsonian museums in Washington, D.C.), then you’ll probably be a little disappointed in Alcatraz East. It’s good, but without better artifacts it’s not at that “great” level. That being said, try to find a coupon or discount to help reduce the admission price. If they can improve the museum and have better quality exhibits, then it’ll definitely be worth your time and money.
In the end, my wife and I were still glad to have had the opportunity to visit Alcatraz East. It was well worth the time we spent earlier that day in the timeshare sales pitch.
After finishing our tour at Alcatraz East, we headed back into The Island to make a couple of stops. Then it was back across the street to our hotel for another evening of swimming in the pool and hot tub, followed by general relaxing. Our next day was going to be quite busy next door in Gatlinburg.