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  McCarthy Album 05, Photograph 023

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  Caption: "Alcatraz," c. 1906. View of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. The building on the highest part of the island, just to the left of center in the photograph, is the Alcatraz Citadel (also known as Fort Alcatraz). Built in 1859 by the U.S. Army for coastal defense purposes, the Citadel began serving as a prison in 1861. It ceased function as a defense fortification and became the Pacific Branch of the U.S. Military Prison in 1907. The Citadel was demolished in 1909. Over the next two decades the facilities on the island were modified and modernized, becoming a federal penitentiary in 1934.

  Date: 1906