San Francisco Lite

4. Alcatraz Island

San Francisco, CA

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A short ferry ride from Pier 39 is Alcatraz Island, located in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. Aside for the world famous Alcatraz Prison, the island was the site of the first lighthouse on the West Coast, served as a Civil War fort, and a bird sanctuary. The American Indian Red Power movement began here. Today, the National Park Service manages the island as a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The island measures 1,675 feet by 590 feet and has a land area of 22 acres. It was named by Spanish explorer Manuel de Ayala the Isla de los Alcatraces, or Island of the Pelicans. Also nicknamed "The Rock," the island was first a military garrison protecting San Francisco and the surrounding areas under the orders of President Millard Fillmore in 1850. Alcatraz hosted troops until its conversion to a federal penitentiary in 1934. From 1934 to 1963, Alcatraz Island housed the most notorious criminals in response to the correction facility needs of a post-Prohibition, post-Depression America. The main prison block features 9x5 foot cells, a mess hall, a library, and solitary confinement "dark holes." Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was an experiment for the concentration model, which meant that prisoners with capital offenses were housed under one roof. Famous inmates included Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (the "Birdman of Alcatraz"), George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Bumpy Johnson, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Mickey Cohen, Arthur R. "Doc" Barker, James "Whitey" Bulger, and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, who served 26 years at Alcatraz, more than any other inmate, and was also the final "public enemy #1" to be taken. After the penitentiary decommissioned, San Francisco University students joined the group called the United Indians of All Tribes and occupied Alcatraz on November 20, 1969 to protest in support of Native American rights and against the nation's Indian termination policy. The groups protested for 19 months until President Richard Nixon annulled the Indian termination policy. In 1972, Alcatraz became a national recreation area and was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986.