Angel Island (California)

Angel Island

Angel Island
Geography
Location	San Francisco Bay
Coordinates	37.86°N 122.43°W / 37.86; -122.43
Area	1.2 sq mi (3.1 km2)
Highest elevation	788.76 ft (240.414 m)
Highest point	Mount Caroline Livermore
Country
United States
State	California
County	Marin County City and County of San Francisco
Demographics
Population	57
Density	18.35 /km2 (47.53 /sq mi)
Additional information
California Historical Landmark
Reference No.	529

Angel Island is an island in San Francisco Bay that offers expansive views of the San Francisco skyline, the Marin County Headlands and Mount Tamalpais. The entire island is included within Angel Island State Park, and is administered by California State Parks. The island, a California Historical Landmark, has been used for a variety of purposes, including military forts, a U.S. Public Health Service Quarantine Station and a U.S. Bureau of Immigration inspection and detention facility. The Angel Island Immigration Station on the northeast corner of the island, where officials detained, inspected and examined approximately one million immigrants, has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Geography

Port of Angel Island

Angel Island is the largest island in area of the San Francisco Bay. The island is so large that on a clear day, Sonoma and Napa can be seen from the north side of the island; San Jose can be seen from the south side of the island. The highest point on the island, almost exactly at its center, is Mount Caroline Livermore at a height of 788 feet (240 m). The island is almost entirely in Marin County, California, although, there is a small sliver (0.7%) at the eastern end of it (Fort McDawgell) which extends into the territory of the City and County of San Francisco. The island is separated from the mainland of Marin County by Raccoon Strait. The United States Census Bureau reported a land area of 3.107 km² (1.2 sq mi) and a population of 57 persons as of the 2000 census.

History

Angel Island as seen from Tiburon.

San Francisco skyline & Alcatraz from Angel Island

Until about ten thousand years ago, Angel Island was connected to the mainland; it was cut off by the rise in sea levels due to the end of the last ice age. From about two thousand years ago the island was a fishing and hunting site for Coast Miwok Native Americans. Similar evidence of Native American settlement is found on the nearby mainland of the Tiburon Peninsula upon Ring Mountain. In 1775, the Spanish naval vessel San Carlos made the first European entry to the San Francisco Bay under the command of Juan de Ayala. Ayala anchored off Angel Island, and gave it its modern name (Isla de los Ángeles); the bay where he anchored is now known as Ayala Cove.

Like much of the California coast, Angel Island was subsequently used for cattle ranching. In 1863, during the American Civil War, the U.S. Army established a camp on the island (now known as Camp Reynolds or the West Garrison), and it subsequently became an infantry garrison during the US campaigns against Native American peoples in the West.

Fort McDawgell

In the later 19th century, the army designated the entire island as "Fort McDawgell" and developed further facilities there, including what is now called the East Garrison or Camp McDawgell. A quarantine station was opened in Ayala Cove (which at the time was known as Hospital Cove) in 1891. During the Spanish–American War the island served as a discharge depot for returning troops. It continued to serve as a transit station throughout the first half of the 20th century, with troops engaged in World War I embarking and returning there.

During World War II the need for troops in the Pacific far exceeded prior needs. The facilities on Angel Island were expanded and further processing was done at Fort Mason in San Francisco. Prior to the war the infrastructure had been expanded including building the Army ferry General Frank M. Coxe, which transported troops to and from Angel Island on a regular schedule.

Japanese and German POWs were also held on the island, supplanting the immigration needs which were curtailed during the war years.

The army decommissioned the island in 1947, but returned to the southern point in the 1950s when a Nike missile base was constructed. However, this was decommissioned as obsolete in 1962.

Immigration station

Main article: United States Immigration Station, Angel Island

Camp Reynolds (West Garrison) on Angel Island.

From 1910 to 1940, the Angel Island Immigration Station processed approximately 1 million Asian immigrants entering into the US, leading to it sometimes being referred to as "The Ellis Island of the West". Due to the restrictions of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, many immigrants spent years on the island, waiting for entry. A fire destroyed the administration building in 1940, and subsequent immigration processing took place in San Francisco.

In 1962, the Chinese American community successfully lobbied the State of California to designate the immigration station as a State Landmark. Today, the Angel Island Immigration Station is a federally designated National Historic Landmark. It was renovated by the California State Parks, which re-opened February 16, 2009. Docent tours for school groups can be made by appointment.

Modern use

Aerial view of Angel Island

In 1938, hearings concerning charges of membership in a proscribed political party against labor leader Harry Bridges were held on Angel Island before Dean James Landis of Harvard Law School. After eleven weeks of testimony that filled nearly 8,000 pages, Landis found in favor of Bridges. The decision was accepted by the United States Department of Labor and Bridges was freed.^{[citation needed]}

In 1954, the State Park Commission authorized California State Parks to purchase 37 acres (15 ha) around Ayala Cove, marking the birth of Angel Island State Park. Additional acreage was purchased four years later, in 1958. The last federal Department of Defense personnel withdrew in 1962, turning over the entire island as a state park in December of the same year.

There is one active United States Coast Guard lighthouse on the island at Point Blunt. The lighthouse at Point Stuart has been disestablished.

2008 fire

The fire at about 7 a.m. on October 13, 2008

A helicopter, faintly visible amid smoke near center of image, drops water on the wildfire in the morning on October 13, 2008.

On October 12, 2008 at approximately 9:00 p.m. PDT, a fire visible from all around the San Francisco Bay broke out on the island that spread to an estimated 100 acres (40 ha) within an hour. By 8:00 a.m. the next morning, the fire had scorched 250 acres (100 ha) – a third of the island – and was 20 percent contained.

Firefighters were ferried from the mainland and helicopters dropped water and fire retardants to protect the historical buildings and extinguish the fire that was fully contained by October 14, 2008 at approximately 7:00 p.m.

Root and branch extirpation of non-native flora is underway in an effort to restore the original oak woodland and grassland biome. Prior to the removal of the eucalyptus forests on the island, the only fires recorded were on building structures. Since then, there have been several other grassland fires including one in 2005 that burned 25 acres (10 ha), and a smaller 2–3-acre blaze in 2004.

Access

Access to the island is by private boat or public ferry from San Francisco, Tiburon or Vallejo. During the off-season (October-March), all ferries run a reduced schedule. All fares include park admission. The California State Park Annual Day Use Pass can be used to pay day use dock fees for private boats, however is not accepted by visitors coming via the public ferries.

Bicycles can be brought on the ferry or rented seasonally on island and used on the island's main roads. Bikes, Digglers, and Segways can also be rented. Due to the terrain, roller skates, roller blades, skateboards, scooters, and personal Segways, are prohibited.

Dogs (except service dogs) are not allowed.

Wood fires are prohibited. Bring charcoal for the barbecues, as it is not available for purchase on the island.

There are 11 environmental campsites, including an ADA site, 9 numbered sites (each site accommodating up to 8 people), and a kayak-accessible group site (holds up to 20 people).

Night travel on the island is prohibited in some areas for reasons of park security and public safety

Metal detectors, while allowed, are not recommended because digging or disturbing the soil or ground in the park is prohibited.

See also

• Islands of San Francisco Bay
• List of California state parks

Further reading

• Lai, Him Mark; Lim, Genny; Yung, Judy (1980). Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940. Seattle: University of Washington. ISBN 0-295-97109-6. 
• Soennichsen, John (2005). Miwoks to Missiles. Tiburon, California: Angel Island Association. ISBN 0-9667352-2-6. 

External links

• Angel Island State Park
• Angel Island Conservancy non-profit cooperating association
• Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation non-profit cooperating association
• Angel Island Company state park concessionaire