Talk:Alcatraz Island

message: "Often referred to as "The Rock" or simply "Traz" "... I've lived in San Francisco my entire life and I've never once heard anybody refer to it as "Traz".. 67.194.30.193 (talk) 00:00, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
thread_title: Nicknames

message: 37°49′36″N 122°25′24″W takes you to 99 Fisherman's Wharf !
You have to go to GEOHACK page and get the decimal nates 37.826667, -122.423333 to get an accurate set.
: works for me and is in fact equivalent to . —Stepheng3 (talk) 00:39, 8 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Inaccurate Google Map Coordinates

message: The picture isn't showing up -- Zoe 00:43 Oct 13, 2002 (UTC)
:I reverted the change made by User:137.142.177.139 as it appears to be a copyright violation from (EDIT: link was blacklisted.). Angela 16:16, 10 Sep 2003 (UTC)
thread_title:  Deleted Picture 

message: Can anyone at all verify that as a genuine article? My reasons for suspicion that it is fake are as follows. 1 - Why would you give a prisoner a brass tag that could be used as a weapon or as a digging implement? 2, and I think this is the clincher - I used to have one just like it. Oh, and one for the Bastille too. It was a novelty key ring. The same Block B etc etc. 3- The user that posted it has history of hoax pictures judging by his talk page at the moment. --LiamE 17:03, 30 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  An Alcatraz prisoner tag picture 

message: The article suggests a link to the gannet, but I don't think there are any gannets in San Francisco Bay. Local lore has it the name is derived from pelican - and there surely are lots of pelicans around San Francisco. Does anyone have accurate information?
--mililani 05:59, 4 September 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: No gannets in the Bay Area or California since the Miocene.  Pelican wins by default.  Tmangray 19:04, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

text: Sorry, I'm pretty confident you're mistaken about that.  Every translating dictionary I find (print as well as online) shows "alcatraz" translated as "gannet."  Some also show the Calia Lily as an alternate translation for the plural, "alcatraces." SteveG23 (talk) 14:25, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

text: So I rephrased it to point out the issue. The problem with the "lily" argument here is that it's all original research. It could be correct and all the documented bird information is apocryphal, but as Wikipedia is a secondary source, original research is not allowed. Ando228 (talk) 15:08, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

text: Raveonpraghga, the heart of the issue is that original research is not allowed on Wikipedia. Someone needs to find a reputable citation that the island near San Francisco was named for lilies, not birds. Ando228 (talk) 16:02, 4 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Origin of the name 

message: Didn't see it mentioned, but the Rock (I've heard) was, in 1854, site of the first lighthouse on the U.S. West Coast.  Al Katraz 05:00, 30 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I also heard this from the docents last month (2005 December), but not the year.  FWIW I added a bit of trivia under The Rock (film)#Trivia that I also heard. 「ѕʀʟ·✎」 07:42, 3 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Not too bright

message: I have made several corrections to the section on the American Indian occupation of Alcatraz (1969-71).  The original article wrongly stated that AIM (American Indian Movement) occupied the island when in fact AIM had nothing to do with the initial occupation.  
Anyone wanting more information on the occupation can find numerous online resources - and you can email the park rangers at goga_alcatraz@nps.gov if you have questions you can't find answered online (note there are way too few rangers on the island these days so please do your research first and only email if you can not  locate answers online).  A couple of good online resources are:
http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz
http://www.fortressalcatraz.com
http://www.alcatrazhistory.com
http://www.cr.nps.gov/museum/exhibits/alca/overview.html
In addition, if you do a site search on the word ALCATRAZ the following sites have additional worthwhile information:
http://www.pbs.org
http://www.kqed.org
http://www.fbi.gov
http://www.bop.gov
Ranger Craig, Alcatraz Island
:There are also a ton of books on the topic, which is helpful since I'm doing my term paper for my Native Peoples of North America anthropology class on the occupation. Ungovernable ForceGot something to say? 05:22, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: This topic seems to be featured way out of proportion to its notability. It sounds like publicity for one particular pressure-group, and it should be reduced to a fraction of the length. Valetude (talk) 15:04, 12 November 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  American Indian Occupation 

message: ...nonsense removed. Kunwon1 18:18, 23 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  removal of nonsense 

message: Is this a reputable source? Isn't this purely entertainment television?
:IMNSHO, Mythbusters, while clearly entertainment, usually tries pretty hard to get the science right.
:Atlant 22:45, 23 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Mythbusters? 

message: Ok, this seems like it could be put in the page, but it desperately needs sources and POV checks. Surely if this is that big a deal there's more resources for info than a single site, based in the union? There's gotta be some news --feba 05:34, 20 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Union protests 

message: I saw on World Book Online that Alcatraz really means pelican in spanish
Nick 16:55, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Other Places I've Checked 

message: Removed the following text from the article, as it was more tags than text:
 
 
 
 Currently there is a boycott on its ferry operator Alcatraz Cruises, as well as parent company Hornblower,
 due to the latest contract to provide ferry service being granted to the company, despite its lack of experience operating in the
 San Fransisco Bay. Supporters of the union which had been handling ferry services before this have attributed this to
 Hornblower's funding of George W. Bush's political campaigns.
- Jack (talk) 20:38, 28 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Controversy section 

message: Citation requested for " Uncle Sam's Devil's Island : experiences of a conscientious objector in America during the World War" being written.
permalinks to 2 worldcat records added (www.worldcat.org)
cheers!
91.105.68.198 12:57, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Grosser citations in military history added 

message: What does James A. Johnston have to do with Alcatraz? Hallpriest9 23:20, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  he was a notable warden of the prison for a long time. Entirelybs 21:50, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Do not merge.  Notable article on its own.   CoolGuy 04:01, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Merger with "[[James A. Johnston]]" 

message: Why does this section not discuss any aspect of natural history?  It instead mentions discovery by an early explorer; not exactly pertaining to "nature", is it? 
Turkeylips 17:00, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: It was man-made. 2601:3CB:780:58E0:CB1D:28DA:C1E2:7A76 (talk) 12:57, 13 April 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Natural History 

message: Added a point about Lost in the 'appearances in popular culture' section. the information was from Mythology of Lost, section 'The Island', but that is the only reference i have.
Shameen 08:21, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Early appearance in popular culture: Richard Henry Dana cites Alcatraz in his Two Years Before the Mast. (In San Francisco, the crew loaded most of the seal skins it took back to Boston.) Dana wrote that through a telescope lens the crew could see deer on the island.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by BubbleDine (talk • contribs) 17:54, 1 January 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lost (Appearances in Popular Culture) 

message: Famous or infamous? Kaeso Dio 21:27, 1 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Alcatraz 

message: " In 1959 he was transferred to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield."
This sentence was found under Famous inmates. From what I can tell, it is the only instance of Springfield in the entire article. Which Springfield is it? I believe there are 33 Springfields in the US. :D <3 Tinkleheimer TALK!! 18:02, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Springfield? 

message: Can someone give me an explanation as to why the peace center section was completely removed from the article? Orracle107 (talk) 00:15, 29 March 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm for its inclusion as well, but it appears to have been taken out in accordance of two policies wp:weight and wp:recent.  You might want to bug Paul.h, as he's the one who did it.71.141.230.131 (talk) 01:43, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposed Peace Center 

message: I've copyedited the section which was tagged as "magazine style" and received confirmation to delete the template at the Milhist assessment page. Section is still covered now by requirement tag for citations at previous heading. LuckyThracian (Talk) 03:28, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Magazine template removed 

message: The date which the island was given to the Mexican governor to build a lighthouse upon is 1846 in the article, which obviously can't be right.  I don't know the real date, so I'll remove it all together and let somebody who does know the date fix this problem. Rudy Breteler (talk) 03:01, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Chronological errors 

message: I've uploaded :Image:Alcatraz Island from Pier39 with 500mm.jpg and :Image:Alcatraz full view 210mm.jpg to Commons. In my opinion, they are better than the one currently in the infobox. I was wondering whether or not I should replace the image currently on there with one of these. Any comments? Calvin 1998 (t-c) 01:44, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  New images 

message: If anyone is interested, I have proposed a new Wikiproject concerning prisons here.--Cdogsimmons (talk) 22:43, 13 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wikiproject Prisons 

message: The "Federal Prison" section seems to have been taken nearly completely from the Alcatraz History web site at http://www.alcatrazhistory.com/rs1.htm with only slight paraphrasing.  It's very nearly a sentence-by-sentence copy! Would someone like to confirm this and suggest a solution? Bishop^ (talk) 13:54, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Checking back through the history, a user replaced some existing content with a textdump, which matches the site. I will revert it as a copyvio.--Drat (Talk) 14:31, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Federal Prison" section plagiarized? 

message: A lot of military history and links to further information is available here:
http://www.militarymuseum.org/Alcatraz.html 
mirwin
The section under Military History, sub head Military Prison, continues the absolutely unfounded myth of "shark-infested waters of the San Francisco Bay" when this has never been the case and in fact the cite at the end of this paragraph makes no mention of sharks (because it's a myth) but does highlight the cold and strong, unforgiving currents that do in fact exist and are a real hazard to escape.
68.183.204.16 (talk) 04:07, 13 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Military history links 

message: The burned out shell shown in the picture and listed as " Wardens House " with  flowers in the forground is actually the former Alcatraz " Social Hall " The Social Hall had a two lane bowling alley, two pool tables, a ping-pong table and snack bar on the lower floor and a large auditorium with stage on on the upper floor for weekly movies, dances, dinners and parties. 
this building was burned to the ground, leaving the concrete outer walls, in 1970 during the Indian occupation.--Bdollis (talk) 02:31, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: You are correct. During my recent trip to Alcatraz I took pictures of both the Social Hall and the Warden's House. They are clearly different buildings, and the picture in the article is the Social Hall. I will amend the caption, and might also add my picture of the Warden's House. Logicman1966 (talk) 13:01, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Photo of " Wardens House "   

message: Alcatraz is the site of the oldest light station on the west coast, not the oldest lighthouse. The original 1854 lighthouse is long gone and the current one dates from 1909. 209.244.31.35 (talk) 20:40, 22 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lighthouse error 

message: How come the part dealing with Alcatraz as a jail is just one short, almost non-existent paragraph? That was the most famous period of its history so surely there must be more: details of day-to-day life and the policies of the various wardens for instance.--Marktreut (talk) 20:44, 27 July 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I was thinking the exact same thing, Alcatraz was quite overkill and fascinating in that sense. If there's someone who can write more about how it was built, more about all the different kind of blocks there were and pretty much some overall information then by alls means, please do! / 81.227.251.80 (talk) 21:49, 7 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Prison section is nothing 

message: I've never seen this nomenclature used. US army bases are normally called "forts", and when I first contributed to this article I actually referred to "Fort Alcatraz", but realized this was apparently wrong when my research only turned up references to "Point Alcatraz". My conclusion is that the army referred to ordinary bases as "forts" while coastal defence installations were designated "points" (as in West Point).  Lexington50 (talk) 05:45, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: "Fortress Alcatraz"?

message: I just completed a rather thorough rearrangement of the article.  Initially, almost all the images (and there were a lot of them) ran straight down the right side of the page.  I staggered and removed a couple of the less useful ones (for reasons stated in the edit summaries).  While the page is by no means perfect, it looks a great deal more encyclopedic now.  Hopefully, another editor will be able to look at it with fresh eyes and further enhance it's overall quality - I mean, it has the content, so there's no reason not to shoot for good article status.--K10wnsta (talk) 19:01, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sweeping Adjustments 

message: The piece says, in the section on Escape Attempts, that 36 prisoners were involved in escape attempts, two trying twice.  It goes on to say that 23 were caught, 6 shot, 3 lost at sea.  I just can't make 23, 6, and 3, add up to 36, no matter how I interpret the multiple escape attempts.  What am I missing? -- Britishisles (talk) 03:47, 8 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Number of Prisoners Attempting Escape 

message: "In 1898, the Spanish-American war  increased the prison population from 26 to over 450. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, civilian prisoners were transferred to Alcatraz for safe confinement. By 1912 there was a large cell house, and in the 1920s a large 3-story structure was nearly at full capacity.[20]  On March 21, 1907, Alcatraz was officially designated as the Western U.S. Military Prison, later Pacific Branch, U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, 1915.[21]  In 1909 construction began on the huge concrete main cell block, designed by Major Reuben Turner, which remains the island's dominant feature. It was completed in 1912. To accommodate the new cell block, the Citadel, a three-story barracks, was demolished down to the first floor, which was actually below ground level. The building had been constructed in an excavated pit (creating a dry "moat") to enhance its defensive potential. The first floor was then incorporated as a basement to the new cell block, giving rise to the popular legend of "dungeons" below the main cell block. The Fortress was deactivated as a military prison in October 1933, and transferred to the Bureau of Prisons.[21]"
Dates are mixed up here. Doesn't follow chronological order, in the article. Can't edit. So please? Some help here?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kwolffsc (talk • contribs) 13:30, 12 June 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't see a problem here.  Is there a specific change you want made? --Stepheng3 (talk) 16:39, 13 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dates are mixed up here.  

message: In the section "Notable Prisoners" Mickey Cohen is described as being "parallelized".  Should that be paralyzed?
Gmaann (talk) 21:49, 14 June 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Fixed. --Stepheng3 (talk) 23:40, 15 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Mickey Cohen

message: Is "In 2008 the nation's first hybrid propulsion ferry started serving the island" really a defining fact about the island that should be in the intro? I don't think so and I honeslty think it is out of place.--122.154.111.19 (talk) 10:38, 12 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Defining fact? 

message: The picture of "arriving by boat" is of a tug boat. Tugs do not dock on the island.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.71.13.142 (talk) 06:21, 14 November 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: The picture has now vanished from the article.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Blue641red65537 (talk • contribs) 12:55, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Arriving by boat: picture 

message: The usage of  is under discussion, see RfD for the discussion. It is suggested that it be repointed. -- 65.94.169.222 (talk) 06:34, 28 July 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: {{noredirect|The Rock}}

message: Lived in Marin for decades, during which time Alcatraz was a prison, Mom was born in SF in 1925, grandparents in the 1800's, I read the SF Comical religiously, everyone in the area was fascinated with Alcatraz when it was a prison, never I mean never did I hear of any "In addition, citizens were increasingly protesting the environmental effects of sewage released into San Francisco Bay from the approximately 250 inmates and 60 Bureau of Prisons families on the island."
The cost of dealing with the septic system may very well have been a part of the economic reason for shutting the prison (but I suspect the successful escape had more to do with it) but no one I know remembers hearing any citizen complaints about sewage. The hill people in Sleazalito did use that trumped-up excuse to remove the houseboaters by force (every city on the Bay has an exemption from BCDC for a few hundred thousand gallons per year of untreateed sewage releases) but that was in the seventies. 
Could someone reference this claim, please ? Otherwise, it should go. 210.22.142.82 (talk) 12:33, 25 July 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sewage complaints ? 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 2 external links on Alcatraz Island. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: This article doesn’t even have the vocabulary down right. Qwirkle (talk) 05:14, 28 February 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Accuracy 

message: This is an amazing way to study the history of Alcatraz  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Popstar Mom (talk • contribs) 18:27, 25 April 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Great way to study Alcatraz 

message: An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Attempted escapes from Alcatraz. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so.  Hildeoc (talk) 18:50, 17 May 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Attempted escapes from Alcatraz listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: Looking at recents events, there seems to be confusion whether “possible” or “impossible” is appropriate in the subject sentence.
We must solve this at once!
Yours truly
CrazyFarmer321 CrazyFarmer321 (talk) 17:23, 18 December 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Possible or impossible? 

message: A discussion is taking place to address the redirect :Alcatraz. The discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 December 20#Alcatraz until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  ɱ (talk) 02:27, 20 December 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Alcatraz" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: :The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 
The result of the move request was: Not Moved  Mike Cline (talk) 16:43, 10 January 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: Alcatraz Island →  – Unnecessary disambiguation, COMMONNAME and PRIMARYTOPIC. The article was originally created at the basename and the basename has redirected here since it was moved to the current title almost 20 years ago. The island is most often called just Alcatraz, not “Alcatraz Island”. The (closed) prison on the island may also be referred to as “Alcatraz” but the island is the primary topic as established by the longstanding redirect and recently affirmed in the failed attempt to change the redirect. В²C ☎ 11:38, 3 January 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Requested move 3 January 2022 

message: “The Rock on the other hand, just depicts life in Alcatraz.”  The article links to the movie with Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage and this movie is about taking hostages on post-prison-closure Alcatraz, not life on the island.  Since the cited source is print I am unable to check if this description is correct.  If it is, then they are likely referring to a different movie of the same name. CAMERAwMUSTACHE (talk) 18:33, 2 August 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Rock movie, in popular culture section 

message: The article states: " He named today's Yerba Buena Island as "La Isla de los Alcatraces", which translates as "The Island of the Gannets" but is commonly believed to translate as "The Island of the Pelicans" (the modern Spanish word for 'pelican' is pelícano), from the archaic Spanish alcatraz ("pelican"). There are no gannets native to the Pacific coast, making the older Spanish usage more likely." 
I believe this is likely an incorrect translation of the original name, "Alcatraces." 
There is a famous painting by renowned Mexican artist Diego Rivera, entitled, "Vendedora de Alcatraces," which in English means, "Calla Lily Vendor" (1941). On your Alcatraz page, there is a picture of the Social Hall, which was destroyed by fire, which has calla lilies growing in front of it. I argue that that "calla lilies" is the correct translations for "Alcatraces." Especially, since "there are no gannets native to the Pacific coast," as the article states. Dr. Sam Lemon (talk) 19:35, 22 March 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Incorrect translation of Alcatraces (Alcatraz)