Nowadays, Angel Island is no longer used as a fort for military purposes. It now serves two purposes both to the general public. It acts as a tourist attraction. Where tourists can take a ferry from the SF Bay to the island and can explore the island. The island has locations set open for tourists where they can have picnics, barbeques, and camping. Furthermore the island also has a museum where tourists can enter and explore. Also, there are many baracks in the island from its Fort Mcdowell days, and for a fee, a guided tour of them are offered. The Island's more important purpose however, is its immigration station. Now called the Immigration Station, after it was decommissioned as a fort, immigration was its most important purpose. In the past, it was used to detain the Chinese immigrants for, days , weeks, months, and sometimes even years at a time.
-Andrew Yu
Sources:
http://angelisland.org/history/united-states-immigration-station-usis/tours/
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/ca/
Monday, May 30, 2011
Fort McDowell
Angel Island wasn't just used as a tourist zone for an island for agrarian purposes. It was in the 19th century that the US army renamed Angel Island, "Fort McDowell" and developed further facilities there used for the current situation including what is now called the East Garrison or Camp McDowell. There was a quarantine station that was opened in Ayala Cove in 1891. Furthermore it was during the Spanish-American War that the island served as a discharge depot for returning troops. The island served as a transit station throughout the first half of the twentieth century, with troops in World War I embarking and returning there. During World War II the necessity 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 Coxe, which transported troops to and from Angel Island on a regular schedule. Finally the island was decommissioned in 1962.
-Andrew Yu
Sources:
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/angel/angel.htm
http://www.onscenicroutes.com/angelislandmain.html
-Andrew Yu
Sources:
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/angel/angel.htm
http://www.onscenicroutes.com/angelislandmain.html
General Information and Stats on Angel Island
Location: San Francisco Bay
Coordinates: 37.86*N 122.43
Area: 1.2 sq mi (3.1 km2)
Highest elevation: 788 ft (240.2 m)
Highest point: Mount Caroline Livermore
Country: United States
State: California
County: Marin County, San Francisco County
Population: 57
Density 18.35 /km2 (47.53 /sq mi)
Designated as a National Historic Landmark
Named Angel Island because Angels were rumored to flock the island in the past
Previously named Fort McDowell
-Andrew Yu
Coordinates: 37.86*N 122.43
Area: 1.2 sq mi (3.1 km2)
Highest elevation: 788 ft (240.2 m)
Highest point: Mount Caroline Livermore
Country: United States
State: California
County: Marin County, San Francisco County
Population: 57
Density 18.35 /km2 (47.53 /sq mi)
Designated as a National Historic Landmark
Named Angel Island because Angels were rumored to flock the island in the past
Previously named Fort McDowell
-Andrew Yu
Photo: Angel Island Immigration Station
Source: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.siliconvalleyimmigrationlawyer.com/Angel_Island_Immigration_Station_b.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.siliconvalleyimmigrationlawyer.com/2010/01/&usg=-Abbygail Talao
FACTS
- largest island in the San Francisco Bay
- nicknamed as the “Ellis Island of the West”
- Area: 1.2 square miles
- Highest point: Mt. Caroline Livermore
- Population: 57
- earliest known inhabitants: Miwok Indians
- explored by the Spanish in 1775
- came under US control in 1851
- US army base from 1863-1946
- radar missile site from 1955-1962
- immigration center from 1910-1940
- confined military prisoners during World War II
-Abbygail Talao
Photo: Angel Island as an Immigration Center
A Chinese immigrant is inhumanely inspected by an American official.Source: http://rpp.english.ucsb.edu/classroom/ucsb-courses/english-104a/angel-island-poems
-Abbygail Talao
History
Approximately 10,000 years ago, Angel Island broke off from the mainland due to the rising sea levels from the last Ice Age. The island’s first known inhabitants were the Miwok Indians, who used the land for hunting and gathering. In 1769, it was sighted by Spanish explorers, and was later formally named Isla de los Angeles by Juan de Ayala in 1775. Until 1848, Angel Island stood as a cattle ranch and a notorious meeting place for smugglers and pirates. President Fillmore declared the island as a military reserve in 1850, and the outbreak of the Spanish-American War led to Angel Island’s first use as a detention camp. By 1892, the island was converted to a quarantine station to keep certain epidemics from reaching the United States.
Sources:
http://www.aiisf.org/history
http://angelisland.org/history/
The Angel Island Immigration Station was opened in 1910 and lasted until 1940, and was the main entry point for immigrants arriving from the Pacific. More than one million people were processed at the station. Many immigrants, specifically the Chinese, were not allowed or welcomed into the country. This was due to the Chinese Exclusion Laws, which was first passed in 1882, and updated until 1943 to keep Chinese and other Asian ethnic groups from entering the United States. The arrival of World War II brought an end to the Chinese Exclusion Laws after China allied with the United States. In 1954, the Angel Island Immigration Station was turned over to the state of California. Because of the Cold War, a radar and missile site was built on the island from 1955 to 1962. In 2009, Angel Island was renovated and reopened as a state park.
Sources:
http://www.aiisf.org/history
http://angelisland.org/history/
-Abbygail Talao
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