Alcatraz Island

앨커트래즈 섬

Alcatraz Island is a small island in San Francisco Bay, California, about 1.25 miles from the city and near the Golden Gate strait. It measures about 511 metres by 180 metres, covers about 22 acres and rises about 41 metres at its highest point. In 1934 it was turned into the federal prison Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Strong tidal currents and cold water made escape nearly impossible, so the prison became one of the most notorious in American history.

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At a glance

Country: United States
Location: San Francisco, USA
Built: 1934

Quick answers

Where is Alcatraz Island?

Alcatraz Island is in San Francisco, USA, United States.

When was Alcatraz Island built?

Alcatraz Island was built in 1934.

An island in San Francisco Bay that held a notorious "escape-proof" federal prison from 1934 to 1963.

The prison closed on 21 March 1963. Today the island is run by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and nearly 1.4 million people visit each year. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1986. Visitors travel by ferry from Pier 33 in San Francisco.

An island of pelicans

The name comes from Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala, who charted the bay in 1775 and named an island La Isla de los Alcatraces, usually taken to mean the Island of the Pelicans. The name was first given to what is now Yerba Buena Island, and was later applied to Alcatraz by an English officer, Captain Frederick Beechey. Today western gulls, cormorants and egrets nest on its rocks, and rock pools are part of its natural features.

A fort, a lighthouse and a military prison

The United States bought the island in 1846 and set it aside for military use in 1850. Between 1853 and 1858 the Army Corps of Engineers fortified it, and during the Civil War it mounted 85 cannons, later 105, though they never fired at an enemy. It also held a first lighthouse on the West Coast, which is the oldest operating one there. Because of its isolation, it housed convicted soldiers as early as 1859 and Civil War prisoners from 1861.

Native American occupation

In November 1969 a group of Native Americans, at first mostly from San Francisco and later joined by the American Indian Movement, occupied the island for more than 19 months. It was part of a wave of Native American activism across the country in the 1970s. In 1972 Alcatraz became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Fun facts

It was a federal prison from 1934 to 1963; Al Capone was among its inmates.
Its name comes from a Spanish word usually taken to mean pelicans.
The island has the oldest operating lighthouse on the US West Coast.
The fort mounted 85 cannons during the Civil War but never fired at an enemy.
Native American activists held the island for more than 19 months, from November 1969.