vessels around Alcatraz, California, 1898

"Alcatraz Island – San Francisco Bay", painted in 1898 by Carrie Van Wie, a gouache and pencil on paper in the collection of Oakland Museum of California.

One of the best known islands in the world, this 22-acre 'rock', 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the mainland, received its name in 1775 when Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala charted the San Francisco Bay, and named this piece of land La Isla de los Alcatraces ("The Island of the Pelicans"). In 1847 the U.S. Army noted its strategic value as a military fortification and in 1861 the island was used to house Civil War prisoners. In 1898 the Spanish-American War increased the prison population from 26 to over 450 prisoners. It was a federal prison from 1933 until 1963. Since 1986 it has been a national historic landmark managed by the National Park Service.