View allAll Photos Tagged sf
Excerpt from the new NPS brochure, Waterbirds of Alcatraz:
Alcatraz takes its name from the word, alcatraces, or seabirds, from the early Spanish explorers. Generations of seabirds occupied the island until it became a military fortress in the 1850’s. For the next hundred years, hardly any birds remained as the human activities of the fortress, military prison, and then federal penitentiary kept them away. Even The Birdman of Alcatraz, Robert Stroud, didn’t have any birds here. When the cellhouse closed in 1963, the lack of human disturbance and land predators, as well as island topography and location, led to the return of the birds. Today, this National Historic Landmark is a haven for over 5,000 nesting birds.
The St. Eleftherios New Church, an architectonical jewel of Bucharest,in Neo-Byzantine style. Its construction started in 1935 and was finished in 1971.
Wharves just south of the Bay Bridge. The wharves are no longer used for ocean-going freight, but are still actively in use as office or storage space. Ocean-crossing freight stopped using the San Francisco waterfront many decades ago, though the port of Oakland (seen in the distance) is the fifth busiest port in the U.S.