U.S. Postal Service to Take Part in Alcatraz’s 75th Anniversary Celebration

Postal Employees will be Working on the Island for First time in 46 years

SAN FRANCISCO—On Aug. 8 and 9, the U.S. Postal Service will once again be stamping the Alcatraz postmark on specially designed post cards, created to celebrate the island’s 75-year anniversary of the opening of U.S. Penitentiary Alcatraz. This weekend will be the first time in 46 years that Postal Service employees will be working on Alcatraz.

A special pictorial cancellation was created to honor the anniversary, and Postal employees will stamp the cancellation on postcards, which are being provided free of charge to island visitors. The Postal employees will be in the gift shop from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Visitors are also free to bring their own stamped letters to be cancelled on Alcatraz.

For those that can not make it to Alcatraz Island this weekend, but would still like a postcard or letter with the Alcatraz special pictorial cancellation, stop by the Rincon Post Office, 180 Steuart St., San Francisco. The commemorative postmark will be available until Sept. 9.

Although the Postal Service will be on hand all weekend, on Sunday the National Park Service will commemorate the 75-year anniversary of the opening of the famous penitentiary by hosting a day of activities. More than 75 former residents of Alcatraz are scheduled to be on Alcatraz Island in honor of this special event. More information about Alcatraz and the 75-year anniversary celebration can be found at: www.alcatrazcruises.com.

According to author Jerry Lewis Champion Jr., the discovery of Alcatraz is related to the Postal Service. The San Carlos, a Spanish packet ship, discovered the Island of Alcatraz on August 5, 1775. The primary function of packet ships was the transport of mail. The Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala named the Island, La Isla de los Alcatraces, which translates to the Island of the Pelicans. Later the name was shortened and altered to the current name of Alcatraz.

The first U.S. Post Office opened on Alcatraz Island on March 6, 1874. At the time, Alcatraz was a U.S. Army reservation known as the “Post at Alcatraz,” which had been established in 1850. The Army post closed in 1933, and on January 1, 1934, Alcatraz became a U.S. federal penitentiary. The island Post Office developed a rubber stamp which featured a cartoon like pelican with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. That theme has been reproduced for the 75-year anniversary cancellation. When the prison closed in 1963, the Alcatraz Post Office also closed.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.