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We Hold the Rock. European discovery and exploration of the San Francisco Bay Area and its islands began in 1542 and culminated with the mapping of the bay in 1775. Early visitors to the Bay Area were preceded 10,000 to 20,000 years earlier, however, by the native people indigenous to the area. Prior to the coming of the Spanish and Portuguese ...
Nov 3, 2023 · Alcatraz Island sighted and named "Isla de los Alcatraces" (Island of the Pelicans) by Don Juan Manuel de Ayala, Lieutenant of the Royal Spanish Navy. Apparently, the Spanish title claim stemmed from this exploration. 1775-1840. During this period there are no local records of any occupation or use by the Spanish. 1846.
Welcome to Alcatraz History. Alcatraz History was designed to help introduce you to the rich history of Alcatraz during the penitentiary years and many of the convicts who called “the Rock” home. From the 1934 until 1963, Alcatraz was America's premier maximum-security prison, the final stop for the nation's most incorrigible prisoners.
Alcatraz. Alcatraz, the former federal island prison that once held the likes of gangster Al Capone, offers national park visitors a close-up look at a maximum-security, minimum-privilege life. The island, once an 1850s military fort, is the site of the West Coast’s first lighthouse (since replaced by the current lighthouse) and the ...
Post Civil War. The end of the Civil War in April 1865 marked the end of Alcatraz as an effective harbor defense. Although there were over one hundred cannon on the island, these smooth-bore cannon were obsolete. New rifled-bore artillery had a longer range, and were more accurate and powerful against masonry forts.
Alcatraz Island is one of San Francisco's most iconic sights. Alcatraz was the site of the first lighthouse in the Western United States but became a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963, housing famous convicts such as Al Capone and George "Machine Gun" Kelly. Now, this once infamous prison island is part of the Bay Area’s 80,000-acre ...
Aug 4, 2019 · Barracks from Alcatraz Island's stint as a military base, the cell house, lighthouse, and a few others remain. Many of the Alcatraz Island prison buildings are gone. Some burned during the American Indian Alcatraz occupation in the 1960s. The guard's residences, deteriorated beyond repair, were torn down in the 1970s.
