The diverse historic layers of Alcatraz Island spans the original First Nations inhabitants, Spanish colonization, US acquisition, Civil War era fortification, military prison, and a federal penitentiary that closed in 1962. Following the federal penitentiary closure, First Nations claims to have the land returned to local tribes sparked protests in the late 1960's. Eventually, the island was designated a National Park and has been visited by millions since the early 1970's.
Images in this gallery are my detailed visual impressions of a first visit to the island in July 2021 after over a year of Covid-19 closed access. The layers of history, architecture, decay and abounding nature leave an engaging impression that can be appreciated at many levels. All images were photographed with a Fujifilm GFX100 yielding an incredibly high resolution captures at 102 megapixels.