Alcatraz Buildings and Jail
Welcome!
The nick name for Alcatraz, is “The Rock”. There was no soil on “The Rock”–so, it was brought from a nearby location, “Angel Island”. Angel Island was the West Coast equivalent to Ellis Island in the East, and still can be visited today.
The brief history provided above and the identification of buildings following, is based on a brochure published by Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, “Discover Alcatraz A Tour of the Rock.” A great $1.00 investment to accompany the tour of the island.
Apartments–current residents are the Sea Gull–and they are everywhere!
This is the Guard Tower–imagine the 360 degree view must be stunning!
Long forgotten bucket, with some flowers along the walk way to what was the Warden’s home.
Clean up on aisle 9
Bet this fireplace was used a lot!
View from in front of Warden's home
View from the Barracks/Apartments
Prison above the yard
And now…inside the cellhouse. An audio tour is available and runs about 45 minutes. I shared this shot to show the width of the aisle as well as the number of heads that are on the tour! It is impressive to watch the number of visitors moving along the tour as the head phones guide you from location to another. The number of visitors to Alcatraz is monitored each day–so if you plan on going, be sure to book early. Another clever act, I imagine to limit your stay is the fact–no food is sold on the island. Water for sale, but that’s all. Gotta get back on the ferry to go get food.
Audio Tour of Cellhouse
- Every cell had a number above the entry.
- Numbers above
Shoes do show a bit of the era, don’t they?
Heater important here!
To anyone who has ever visited the San Francisco Bay Area–they can tell you how down right cold it can get, even in the middle of summer! We visited at the end of July and did not see much sun at all.
Not sure if these were fashioned after the real tins…
To visit Alcatraz, visit www.nps.gov/alcatraz
One of the next posts will be of Cavallo Point–the fort built on the North side of The Golden Gate Bridge. Now, Cavallo Point Lodge occupies the ideal setting and is a fabulous place to visit and stay.
Drmarm's Blog 
Nice post and pictures, looks like a neat spot to visit
September 4, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Love the post and photos! Interesting information too. The view from the warden’s home is stunning. . .
September 4, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Great post! Now I’m sorry I didn’t make it out there when I was in San Fran. Too many tourists at the time and there was a real backlog of people waiting to go to the island. Next time for sure!
September 5, 2010 at 1:01 am
Great post! It is as if you are my tour guide. Very interesting information and cool photos. You managed to capture the feel of the place. Terrific image of the warden’s view. My favorites are the rusty old bucket with a splash of flower brightness, guard tower, crumbling fireplace with flowers and golden reflection on the tin cups. I would love to visit some day. Thank you for sparking my interest!
September 12, 2010 at 1:40 am