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Alcatraz Island Sunrise, San Francisco, California
Photo ID# RW3170
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"The Rock" Alcatraz Island is the site of a former federal penitentiary that housed notorious criminals such as Al Capone. Alcatraz was designed for Civil War prisoners in 1861. Given the location of the island, Alcatraz was considered one of the most difficult prisons to escape, in fact there is no evidence of any escapee reaching the mainland alive.Senator Robert F. Kennedy closed the prison down for good in 1963 due to the expensive cost of keeping it open. In 1969, a group of Native Americans occupied the island by citing the 1868 Fort Laramie treaty. Numerous buildings were damaged due to fire during their occupation and evidence of their occupation still exists today in the form of graffiti. Today, Alcatraz is one of San Francisco's top tourist attractions as it is administered by the U.S. National Parks system as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.