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Alcatraz Island

Alcatraz Island has a very extensive history. Not only did the island serve as
a federal penitentiary, but was once the most powerful fort west of the Mississippi River.
The island rises 40 meters and 535m. long, a mile off San Francisco Bay. The island’s strategic and isolated location made it an ideal defensive and disciplinary site. Alcatraz has housed convicts such as Al Capone, “Machine Gun” Kelly, and Robert “The Birdman.” Since the “the Rock” has closed, over 14 million people have visited the island.
Discovered by Spanish explorer Lt. Juan de Ayala in 1775, the island was
a barren sandstone rock inhabited only by seabirds. Lt. Ayala named the island “La isla de los Alcatraces,” or “island of the pelicans.” During 1848, California became U.S. property at the end of the Mexican-American War. Once gold was discovered in 1849, the Gold Rush was on and San Francisco turned from a town of 300 occupants into a thriving city of thousands. Thus, mo...

Posted by: Jason Pinsky

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