10 Best Things About Alcatraz Island

“If you disobey the rules of society, they send you to prison. If you disobey the rules of the prison, they send you to Alcatraz.”

Taking a ferry to the nearby little Alcatraz Island is one of the best things to do in San Francisco. 

Alcatraz Island was once America's most notorious maximum-security prison, housing not only the country's most heinous criminals but also the most defiant and deviant outlaws and escape artists. Al Capone, George ("Machine Gun") Kelly, and Robert Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz," were among its famous residents. After being decommissioned as a prison in 1963, Alcatraz is now a public museum. If you want to take a Alcatraz tour, make reservations in advance and reserve a ferry to Alcatraz Island. The former federal prison island is now one of San Francisco's most popular tourist attractions, with 1.5 million visitors each year enjoying a tour.

In this article, you'll learn some of the best things about Alcatraz Island, the infamous American island that houses some of San Francisco's most historic structures.

1. The location and size of the island

Even though it is one of the most well-known islands in the United States, it is nevertheless quite small so you can walk all the way around it in under an hour. The island itself is about 22 acres in size. However, it is easily seen from San Francisco's northern shore, which includes the Marina District and the famed Fisherman's Wharf. It's only 1.5 miles offshore, sandwiched between the legendary Golden Gate Bridge and its similarly spectacular twin, the SF-Oakland Bay Bridge.

2. Alcatraz Island had the first lighthouse on the west coast

The Alcatraz Lighthouse is another historic structure on the island. In 1854, the first iteration of this significant lighthouse was completed. The first lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States was constructed here. The new lighthouse, which was erected in 1909, eventually replaced the original.

3. Alcatraz Island is part of a protected area

Alcatraz Island has a long history and has been utilized for many different reasons over the years. Since 1972, it has been managed by the National Park Service as a significant tourist destination, and it is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a wide protected area encircling San Francisco Bay. The protected area, which spans 82,027 acres, is primarily made up of environmentally significant places and landscapes in and around the city. Because it is an urban public park, it is considered the world's largest of its sort.

4. The Alcatraz Escape from the inescapable island

After successfully escaping from the Alcatraz prison on the evening of December 16, 1962, a prisoner called John Paul Scott made it all the way across the bay. He washed up around 5 kilometers from the island, near the Golden Gate Bridge. His arrest and subsequent return to prison occurred because he was unconscious and extremely fatigued. Frank Morris and the Anglin Brothers - John and Clarence - made the most famous escape. All three were able to swim away from Alcatraz, but they are all thought to have drowned. Although a lot of conspiracy theories surround the mystery, they believe their escape attempt was successful.

5. The Name

The name "La Isla de Los Alcatraces" was given to the island by the Spanish in 1775. It's thought that the Spanish called it after the pelicans that live on the island. Even though the current translation is "pelicano," "Alcatraz" comes from Old Spanish and means "pelican."

6. Students saved Alcatraz Island 

Alcatraz Island might have slipped into the hands of private real estate developers if it hadn't been for a 19-month takeover by Native American students at San Francisco State. Although the Native American Occupation was intended to become a university and cultural centre, the occupants were successful in saving Alcatraz Island for future generations.

7. The Alcatraz Prop

The final intact guard tower on Alcatraz was erected as a cinematic prop for scenes in Sean Connery and Nick Cage's film “The Rock.”

8. The Alcatraz Life

Alcatraz, sometimes known as the "Rock," gained a reputation for isolating America's notorious criminals from the rest of the community. However, the conditions within the prison were not as bad as depicted in later movies and television shows. Inmates were frequently assigned to their own cells, and some even requested to be placed there because the risk of violent conflict was low. The facility's rigid regimen was usually the reason some of the era's most prominent offenders were put there. Outside of the four basic necessities of food, shelter, clothes, and medical care, prisoners had little freedom or privileges.  Hot showers were one bonus though.

9. The Birds

Alcatraz Island has progressively been invaded by nature's squatters.  The abundance of Western gulls that have taken up residence on nearly every surface is one of the first things visitors notice. A tour of the park's avian life, which comprises 5000 birds from nine different species, is also available. The population is appropriate, given that the prison's most famous inmate, Robert Stroud, is commonly regarded as the "Birdman of Alcatraz."

10. San Francisco’s most popular tourist attraction

For decades, Alcatraz Island has been one of the city's most famous tourist attractions, with approximately 1.7 million tourists each year. Take a self-guided or guided tour to learn everything there is to know about America's most infamous prison island.