06/01/2026
Happy first day of June and happy anniversary to the first lighthouse built on the West Coast of the United States!!
On June 1st of 1854, the first lighthouse on Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay was lit, long before the island became a prison.
The first lighthouse at Alcatraz continued operation until 1909, when a cell house was built on the island, turning it into a prison. Construction on a new, taller lighthouse began in July of 1909, and the concrete tower was finished by that December. The original lighthouse was demolished soon after.
The newer lighthouse still stands today on Alcatraz Island.