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Alcatraz Island Lighthouse, at the southern end of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay, was the first lighthouse built on the U.S. West Coast. Begun in the early 1850s, the original Cape Cod-style tower was completed in 1853 and first lit on June 1, 1854, using a third-order Fresnel lens chosen for stronger performance. As Alcatraz evolved from a military site to a prison, the lighthouse continued to guide ships through dangerous coastal waters. After the 1906 earthquake damaged the first tower, a taller concrete replacement was built during 1909–1912. Automated in 1963, it remained after a 1970 fire and now connects the island’s prison past with its maritime history.
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San Francisco, California · United States
