Alcatraz Island is a small, rocky island sitting in the middle of San Francisco Bay. For almost 30 years, it was home to one of the most famous prisons in the world! The water around the island is very cold and full of strong currents, so it was almost impossible for anyone to swim away. Today, the prison is closed and the island is a fun place to visit.
If you take a ferry boat to Alcatraz, you can walk through the old prison and peek inside the tiny cells where prisoners once lived. Each cell was only about 5 feet wide and 9 feet long — that is smaller than most bathrooms! You can also see old buildings, a lighthouse, and beautiful views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.
A long time ago, the United States Army built a fort on the island to protect San Francisco Bay. In 1934, the island became a federal prison for some of the most dangerous criminals in the country. The prison closed in 1963 because it cost too much money to run. After the prison closed, a group of Native Americans moved to the island for almost two years to bring attention to how Native people were being treated.
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