Angel Island for kids
Shark Point and Angel Island. The true story of Angel Island, near Tiburon, CA, told for kids.
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
Every Tumbly story is checked claim by claim against the sources below before it's 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
Nearby stories
The Ship Factory and the Giant Puddle
Right around here in Sausalito, something amazing happened a long time ago. During a big war, about eighty years ago, the country needed…
Fort Baker
Down by the water, right under the bridge, is a place called Fort Baker. A long time ago, it was an army fort full of soldiers, and they…
The One-Lane Tunnel
Uh oh, see that traffic light? This tunnel is so skinny that only one direction of cars can go through at a time!
The Rainbow Tunnel
Look! Look up ahead!All stories in Marin County → · All places
Town and county names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).