5420 x 2787 px | 45,9 x 23,6 cm | 18,1 x 9,3 inches | 300dpi
Aufnahmedatum:
August 2013
Ort:
Hyde Street at Francisco Street, towards Hyde Street Pier and Alcatraz, San Francisco, California
Weitere Informationen:
Grey clouds morning view Hyde Street at Francisco Street towards Hyde Street Pier and Alcatraz rising from the calm waters of San Francisco Bay. The house on the right, at 898 Francisco Street, dates to 1914. Alcatraz, in the background, derives its name from the Spanish word for 'pelicans' (alcatraces), seen by Juan Manual de Ayala, charting San Francisco Bay in 1775. Following the US acquisition of California at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, and also in response to the 1849 Gold Rush, the US Army considered establishing a coastal battery on the island to protect the approaches to San Francisco Bay. Fort Alcatraz, with 200 soldiers and eleven cannons was established by the 1850s. At the start of the American Civil War in 1861, the island had 85 cannons, increased to 105 by 1866. Alcatraz formed a 'triangle of defence' with Fort Point and Fort Baker either side of the Golden Gate Strait. As earl as 1861 the island had housed Confederate prisoners. After the Civil War, the island, isolated by the cold waters and strong currents of San Francisco Bay, switched its role to one of detention, Alcatraz becoming the Western US Military Prison 21 March 1907. In 1909 construction began on the huge concrete main cell block, completed in 1912 and the island's dominant feature. The island was de-activated as a Military Prison in 1933. The US Department of Justice acquired it 12 October 1933 and Alcatraz became a Federal Prison in August 1934. It was designed to hold prisoners who continually caused trouble at other federal prisons. Hyde Street is also part of the Powell-Hyde Cable Car Line.
