Angel Island for kids
Shark Point and Angel Island. A true story near Tiburon, CA, told for kids 3-12.
Read along
Do you know what Tiburon means? It means shark, in Spanish! Long ago, people named this pointy piece of land Shark Point. Don't worry, the sharks around here are small and shy.
Now look across the water at that big green island. That's Angel Island! The Coast Miwok people paddled out there to fish and hunt. Later, it became a place where people arriving from far away across the ocean, especially from China, had to wait, sometimes for a very long time, before they could come into America.
Some of them felt lonely, so they carved poems into the wooden walls, and you can still read them today. Now it's a park, with deer, bike trails, and a little ferry boat that takes you there.
Quiz the back seat
What does Tiburon mean in Spanish?
Show the answer
Shark. Shark! Chomp chomp!
3 fun facts
- Tiburon comes from Punta de Tiburón, Shark Point.
- Angel Island Immigration Station operated 1910 to 1940.
- Poems carved by detained immigrants still cover its walls.
For grown-ups
Written by the Tumbly team, then checked claim by claim against the sources below before it was published; stories that don't pass stay off the app and this site. Narration is pre-recorded, and nothing you do on this page is tied to your kids.
Sources
Roads
Town and county names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).