Alcatraz in Photos

Imagine a small island with a lighthouse in the middle of a beautiful bay.  Besides exotic flowers, it shows off incredible views of a hillside city with bridges that span charming wharfs and gourmet chocolate with aromas that fill the air night and day.

Now imagine an island where activists, protestors, and prisoners on high-security reside, including some condemned to live there the rest of their days.   

As unimaginable as it may seem, this description fits the same place. It’s just a mile or so off the shore from San Francisco. Once developed with facilities for a lighthouse, the island later served as a military fortification and later still as a military prison. After that, it was a federal prison. As you may have guessed, it’s Alcatraz. It was given that Spanish name meaning pelicans in deference to the birds seen on it by the explorer discovering it in 1775.

Now a national park where tourists go, it was not open to the public until 1973. But before the first tourist ferried over from San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, they permitted the media to view it on Press Day.

One of those with the media that day was Mike Spinelli, then staff photographer for the San Mateo Times, a daily newspaper in the Bay Area. Incredibly, Mike not only got to spend an hour or so with fellow photographers and reporters, he also got to spend many hours there by himself that day after the media departed. That’s because the only guard on “The Rock” – a nickname Alcatraz earned -- offered him a chance to stay until 5 p.m. when his work shift was over and he was being picked up by a launch to return bayside.

To look at the remarkable images of the island and San Francisco scenes visible from there, come see what Mike photographed wandering around Alcatraz by himself. The Rotary meeting featuring Mike’s illustrated talk is at 7 a.m. June 30 at Ironwood Clubhouse in Anthem.