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Alcatraz is best known as "the Rock" - a prison where the
worst of the worst were incarcerated. However, the island is
also the site of the first California lighthouse. The
island's name itself is derived from the Spanish word
alcatraces, meaning "strange bird" - a reference to pelicans
living on the island when it was visited by the Spanish.
The name "Alcatraces" was
actually originally given to what is now Yerba Buena Island
in the San Francisco Bay. In 1775, the name transferred to
the current site. The US Coast Guard Survey shortened the
name to Alcatraz in 1851.
In 1849, the Coast Guard Survey dispatched a party to the
Pacific Coast to determine sites for new lighthouses in
California, Oregon, and Washington. The Gold Rush had made
Pacific Coast lighthouses a priority. The work was
contracted to a Baltimore firm. The company dispatched the
bark Oriole around Cape Horn to California, laden
with supplies and a work crew.
The Oriole arrived in San Francisco on January 29,
1853, and the crew began work on the first Alcatraz
lighthouse. The foundation had been laid in late 1852 by an
advance crew. The original structure was a
California cottage - a two-story structure with a tower in
the center. The fifty-foot lighthouse was painted white with
black trim and a back lantern room. The fixed third-order
lens did not arrive until October 1853. Budget problems
delayed installation until 1854.
A fog bell was added in
1856, when it was clear that San Francisco's now well-known
fog often rendered the light ineffective. The original bell
had to be rung by hand - quite a task considering the density
of fog in the area. Later fog bells had a clockwork
mechanism which would automatically ring the bell at
prescribed intervals. As the city of San Francisco grew, a
new flashing fourth-order lens was installed, to aid mariners
in distinguishing it from city lights.
On April 18, 1906, the San Francisco earthquake rattled the
lighthouse. The lighthouse tower was cracked, and one of the
chimneys tumbled down. Keeper B.F. Leeds wrote "...is this
the end of the world?...Terrible seeing S.F. from here."
There had been a military presence on the island since the
mid 1800's. By the turn of the century,
the military prison on the island had grown to
such an extent that it was obscuring the lighthouse. Work on
a new lighthouse began in 1909. The new tower was
eighty-four feet tall. Electricity powered the light and the
fog sirens at the north and south ends of the island. The
new keeper's house was adjacent to the quarters of the warden
and the prison doctor - "considering the not-to-select
company Alcatraz offered...the lighthouse area was the elite
neighborhood of the island." (Shanks, p. 35)
Life on the island was usually quiet for the keepers, but it
was an unusual and sometimes dangerous assignment. In 1946,
a prison riot took place which required the intervention of
US Marines. The keepers were kept informed of weather
conditions by tower guards, who had the best vantage points.
Occasionally the keepers would need to cross the prison to
service the fog signals at the end of the island. This would
require notifying the guards, and would proceed on hand
signals from the guards from gate to gate.
The keepers could
not cross the compound while any prisoners were in the
compound. Any trash generated by the keepers had to be
crushed and tossed into the bay, to avoid anyone fabricating
it into a weapon. The keepers were allowed to have visitors,
but they were not allowed to leave their quarters and go to
the boat until a whistle blew five minutes prior to
departure.
Due to the high cost of maintaining a prison on an island,
the government closed the prison in 1963. In November 1963,
the lighthouse was automated. The lens was removed, and a
reflecting light installed. On November 9, 1969, the island
was occupied by Native Americans who claimed the island as
part of an 1868 Sioux treaty. Full-scale colonization of the
island began eleven days later. The US government attempted to drive them
off by cutting off power to the island, including the
lighthouse. Lighted buoys were placed at either end of the
island. Power was restored by the island's new residence,
with the help of a generator smuggled to the island with the
help of "several prominent San Franciscans concerned with
maritime safety."
During this period, a
mysterious fire destroyed the keeper's house and warden's
house. A boat was seen leaving the island shortly before the
fire, leading some to believe the fire was the work of
arsonists. With no water pumps on the island, there was no
way to fight the fire. The Native American population
gradually dwindled, due to government pressure and the
hardships of living on the island. In June 1971, federal
agents removed the few who remained.
After the occupation, the government's General Services
Administration began to raze the old fort and prison
structures. The historic site was saved from the wrecking
ball in 1972, when Alcatraz was made a part of the
newly-formed Golden Gate National Recreational Area, and
administered by the National Parks Service.
Today, a 200,000
candlepower optic shines from the 1909 tower. The island is
a popular tourist attraction. The fourth-order Fresnel lens
is on display in the island museum. Much of the island has
been reclaimed by nature. Part of "Pelican Island" has been
closed off as a nesting area for seabirds.
In 2004, the lighthouse celebrated its 150th anniversary. Visitors
were given the rare opportunity to climb to the top, which is normally
not open to the public.
Guardians of the Golden Gate - Lighthouses and Lifeboat Stations of
San Francisco Bay, Shanks, pp. 30-32, 35, 38-42
Umbrella Guide to California Lighthouses, Nelson, pp. 100-101
Discover Alcatraz Self-Guiding Tour
The Keeper's Log Summer 2004
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