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Angel Island State Park in San Francisco Bay has a varied history, including use as a base for Spanish and American explorers, a quarantine station, detention center for POWs, and immigration processing center. It is now a popular tourist destination accessible by ferry.
Angel Island State Park is a natural island located in San Francisco Bay in California. It covers 1.2 square miles (3.1 kilometers). The island is located in the northern part of the bay, and is almost entirely in Marin County. Angel Island has had a varied and colorful history and can be reached by ferries from Vallejo, Tiburon and San Francisco as well as by private boat. During the summer, many tours of the island are available, and visitors can also roam most of the island at will, although access is limited after dark, as is the case in most California state parks.
Angel Island’s human history began with the settlement of the Miwok Indians, who were displaced by Spanish explorers. The Spanish used Angel Island as a base of operations to explore the bay and surrounding regions, and when California became a state, the Americans did likewise. In 1863, the United States Army established Camp Reynolds on the western side of Angel Island, beginning a long settlement by the United States Army.
In 1891, a portion of Angel Island was earmarked for use as a quarantine station, to prevent infectious diseases from entering California. The first ship to be quarantined on Angel Island was a steamship, the China, which had smallpox on board. Quarantined vessels were allowed to dock in port until cleaned and determined to be safe, and quarantined individuals were sheltered ashore. In 1898, with the Spanish-American War, another portion of the island was used as a detention center for POWs and other objectionable individuals, and continued to be used for that purpose until after World War II.
In 1910, the sordidest part of Angel Island’s history began. From 1910 to 1940, part of Angel Island was used as an immigration processing center, almost exclusively with the intent of keeping Chinese immigrants out. Although Angel Island was called “Ellis Island of the West,” there was a strong focus on preventing Asian immigration into California, rather than just treating new arrivals to the United States. Chinese people in California were already restricted by the Asian Exclusion Act and other measures designed to make it impossible for them to own property or businesses. These laws were not eliminated entirely until the 1940s.
Angel Island has been continuously occupied by the United States Army since Camp Reynolds was established. Another Army installation, Fort McDowell, was built on the eastern side of the island. When the Army took over during World War II, all of Angel Island was known as Fort McDowell, and it was a major staging post, along with Bay Area bases like Treasure Island, Alameda, Mare Island, the Hamilton Shipyard, and others. Most of the island has been turned over to the Parks Department, but the United States Coast Guard continues to maintain a small presence on the island.
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