3 - Alcatraz: From Prison to Preserve
Alcatraz Island was once home to many of America’s toughest, most infamous criminals, including Al Capone and Robert “Birdman of Alcatraz” Stroud. Alcatraz was an island prison where no inmate ever successfully escaped, a chunk of land so remote and barren that it earned the nickname “The Rock.” However, not all residents of Alcatraz Island arrived in handcuffs.
When Spanish explorers discovered the island in 1775, they called it La Isla de los Alcatraces, or “Island of the Pelicans.” Pelicans weren’t the only birds living on the island, but the name Alcatraz stuck.
Humans inhabited Alcatraz for the next two hundred years. This island was home to a lighthouse, a military fort, and, later, the maximum-security prison that made it famous. It was nearly impossible to escape from this jail located in the middle of San Francisco Bay.
In 1963, the prison was closed, but in 1973, Alcatraz became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Snowy egrets and black-crowned night herons are among the birds that make their homes on the island today. These birds, and small animals such as deer mice and salamanders, live where soldiers and prisoners once watched waves crash against the shore. While much of Alcatraz’s fame comes from its history as a place of guards and locked cells, another part of the story comes from the island’s wild, natural beauty.
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