15 Facts About Alcatraz Island

1.

Alcatraz Island is a small island in San Francisco Bay, 1.

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2.

In 1972, Alcatraz Island was transferred to the Department of Interior to become part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

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3.

Hornblower Cruises, operating under the name Alcatraz Cruises, is the official ferry provider to and from the island.

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4.

Alcatraz Island is the site of the abandoned federal prison, the oldest operating lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States, early military fortifications, and natural features such as rock pools and a seabird colony .

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5.

Yerba Buena Alcatraz Island was labeled on Ayala's 1775 chart of San Francisco Bay as "Isla de Alcatraces".

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6.

In 1850, President Millard Fillmore ordered that Alcatraz Island be set aside specifically as a United States military reservation, for military purposes based upon the U S acquisition of California from Mexico following the Mexican–American War.

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7.

Alcatraz Island, built as a "heavily fortified military site on the West Coast", was to form a "triangle of defense" with Fort Point and Lime Point, but the contemplated work on Lime Point was never built.

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8.

In 1867, a brick jailhouse was built, and in 1868, Alcatraz Island was officially designated as a long-term detention facility for military prisoners.

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9.

Alcatraz Island was designed to hold prisoners who continuously caused trouble at other federal prisons.

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10.

Alcatraz Island established a new policy of self-determination, in part as a result of the publicity and awareness created by the occupation.

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11.

Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area since 1972, the entire Alcatraz Island was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

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12.

The 2018 report indicated that "former prison buildings are being conserved and seismically upgraded and additional areas of the Alcatraz Island are opened to the public as safety hazards are removed".

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13.

Alcatraz Island has been portrayed often as a safe haven or base of operations in many post-apocalyptic movies, such as The Book of Eli.

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14.

Alcatraz Island even appears in The Alchemyst and The Sorceress by author Michael Scott and is depicted as a prison for the immortal Perenelle Flamel.

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15.

Alcatraz Island is featured as a downloadable map in the video game The Escapists.

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