Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Caption: Upper image
Additional Description: History of the Water Tower (inset)
When the US military transferred Alcatraz to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) in 1934, the BOP signed a contract to provide laundry service for Bay Area army bases. With no fresh water source on the island, large volumes of water were transported for drinking, fire suppression, and the prison laundry. Installed in 1940, the water tower stored the 250,000 gallons (950,000 liters) of fresh water brought by boat twice weekly. Today the island uses approximately 1,500 gallons a [sic] water a day that is stored in a nearby cistern.
Submitted: May 13, 2019, by Joel Seewald of Madison Heights, Michigan.
Database Locator Identification Number: p474526
File Size: 1.834 Megabytes

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