For thousands of years the island was a barren sandstone rock inhabited by seabirds.It is believed that the Native Americans came ashore to hunt for bird eggs or fish. In 1775 ,Spanish explorer Juan de Ayala charted the bay and named an Island "La Isla de Los Alcatraces"-The Island of the Pelicans.
The Island was still uninhabited when California became part of the United States in 1848.In 1853 the Army began to build fortifications on the island.The fortifications on Alcatraz were 100 heavy cannon and a garrison of 300 soldiers. No enemy ever attacked,however,and the gun rooms were converted into jail cells.
Alcatraz became the Army's pacific branch military prison in 1907.Soldiers sentenced to hard labor chipped rock,built roadways and buildings,and transported soil.In 1933 the Army transfered Alcatraz to the newly formed Federal Bureau of prisons.The prison was redesigned as a maximum security facility.
The cost of transporting water,fuel,food and supplies to this isolated island made Alcatraz expensiveto operate.The buildings were deteriorating rapidly in the salt air,and repairs would have been unreasonably expensive.The Federal prison on Alcatraz closed March 1963.
From 1969 to 1971 a group of Native Americans,political activists occupied the island.This occupation is remembered as a key moment in the creation of a national civil rights movement by indigenous peoples in the United States.
In 1972 Alcatraz Island was made part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area (GGNRA) administered by the National Park Service. More than one million visitors come to Alcatraz each year, and the park service is pursuing the goals of maintaining and restoring the historic buildings and providing further opportunities for public enjoyment.
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Phone: Blue & Gold (415) 705-5555
Address: In the middle of San Fracisco Bay
Directions: Alcatraz is reached by ferries of the Blue and Gold fleet from Pier 41
Website: http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz
San Francisco
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on Feb 5, 2005
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