Alcatraz Island is an island located in the
San Francisco Bay, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) offshore from
San Francisco,
California,
United States.
[1] Often referred to as "
The Rock" or simply "
Traz", the small island was developed with facilities for a
lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a
Federal Bureau of Prisons federal prison until 1963.
[2] Beginning in November 1969, the island was occupied for more than 19 months by a group of
American Indians from San Francisco, who were part of a wave of Indian
activism across the nation, with public protests through the 1970s. Later, in 1972, Alcatraz became a national recreation area and received designation as a
National Historic Landmark in 1986.
