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Alcatraz Island
built 193 days ago
Alcatraz Island is one of the parks’ most popular destinations; daily tours (Alcatraz is open daily except for Christmas and New Year’s day) offer a close-up look at this former federal prison. Visitors to the island can not only explore the remnants of the prison, but ... learn about the Native American occupation of 1969-1971, early military fortifications, and the West Coast's first and oldest operating lighthouse. The island also features gardens, tide pools, bird colonies, and spectacular bay views.
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Alcatraz Island, home to the now-closed infamous Alcatraz Prison, is among the most popular tours in San Francisco. The island is accessible via the Blue & Gold Fleet ferry that departs from Pier 41 every day except Christmas, New Year's Day and when the weather doesn't permit travel. Visitors may tour areas outside and inside the prison, where prisoners such as Al Capone and Robert "The Birdman" Stroud were once incarcerated. Day and night tours are available. No food is sold on the island, but visitors may bring a picnic lunch.
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If you're looking for places of interest in California, Alcatraz Island surely has a place on your list. Take a look at these great resources and learn more about this unusual part of the California Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
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Visible from Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz Island (aka "The Rock") has seen a checkered history. Juan Manuel Ayala was the first European to discover it in 1775 and named it after the many pelicans that nested on the island. From the 1850s to 1933, when the army vacated the island, it served as a military post, protecting the bay's shoreline. In 1934, the government converted the buildings of the military outpost into a maximum-security prison. Given the sheer cliffs, treacherous tides and currents, and frigid water temperatures, it was believed to be a totally escape-proof prison. Among the famous gangsters who occupied cell blocks A through D were Al Capone, Robert Stroud, the so-called Birdman of Alcatraz (because he was an expert in ornithological diseases), Machine Gun Kelly, and Alvin Karpis.
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Wilma Mankiller was a student at San Francisco State University when the occupation of Alcatraz Island took place. Her family had moved to the Bay Area years before as part of the Relocation Program. In her biography, Wilma states that her life drastically changed after moving from the Cherokee Nation Reservation to San Francisco. Like many Relocation participants, her family soon found themselves living in the Mission District, cut off from promised BIA support and far removed from their Native culture. As a teenager Wilma was rebellious towards her parents and indifferent towards school and other social activities. It was the Indian Center in the Mission District and one volunteer there in particular who began to steer Wilma towards SFSU.
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Alcatraz Island is closed on just two days - Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Alcatraz visitation starts at 9:30 am with departures to the Island every half an hour. The Island closes at 6:30 pm in the summertime and at 4:30 pm the rest of the year. The National Park Service strongly advises visitors to get advance tickets. Tours will often sell out a week in advance during the popular tourist season.
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