DOCSLIB.ORG

Seacoast Fortifications Preservation Manual Golden Gate National Recreation Area Table of Contents

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Seacoast Fortifications Preservation Manual Golden Gate National Recreation Area Table of Contents Seacoast Fortifications Preservation Manual - GGNRA 1/22/03 2:17 PM Seacoast Fortifications Preservation Manual Golden Gate National Recreation Area Table of Contents This Seacoast Fortifications Preservation Manual addresses the extensive and nationally significant seacoast fortification network in Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Its purpose is to identify specific preservation issues affecting the fortifications; provide technical information about appropriate treatments; and develop a methodology for prioritizing the application of those treatments to the park’s extensive fortification network. Written by a team of five preservation specialists, the manual is organized as sections that discuss the historic significance and preservation rationale for the resource; explain the physical history of the fortifications in order to better understand their evolving nature; and present up-to-date and practical treatment solutions for the many preservation challenges that these fortifications present. More specifically, Part I of the manual offers readers a detailed historic context, a discussion of character-defining features for the fortifications, and a suggested methodology for documenting existing conditions. Each chapter is prepared according to the parameters of the National Register of Historic Places. Part II focuses on the architectural-engineering history directly pertinent to the San Francisco fortifications site preparation (excavation and fill); explicit concrete mixes and issues of reinforcement; surfacing schemes; and historic vegetation at the individual batteries over time as well as a review of historic maintenance methods of the recent past. Part III is the heart of the manual, providing conditions assessments; an analysis of safety and security issues; and, treatment plans for stabilization, preservation and repair, and restoration. Recommended treatments for explicit situations at the San Francisco fortifications, such as "Concrete: Separation," "Metals: Imbedded Hardware," "Moisture Protection: Causes of Deterioration," and "Finishes: Signs and Stenciling," are intended as a reference tool for the National Park Service, with 45 removable, one-page sheets organized in a double-column format accompanied by architect’s original sketches and current photographs illustrating the described problems. The manual includes a detailed glossary of architectural, fortification, and preservation terms, and, an annotated http://www.nps.gov/goga/history/seaforts/ Page 1 of 3 Seacoast Fortifications Preservation Manual - GGNRA 1/22/03 2:17 PM bibliography. Approximately 150 historic and contemporary black and white photographs, architect’s sketches, and historic battery plans illustrate the manual. The seacoast fortifications of Golden Gate National Recreation Area are widely acknowledged to comprise the finest outdoor museum of coast defense structures in the country. They range in age from Fort Point (1861), through Battery Construction No.129 (1944) to Nike Site SF-88L (1954). Construction types include intricate brick casemates, extensive earthworks, massive solid-pour concrete, and reinforced concrete subterranean structures. As a group, these fortifications possess relatively high integrity; represent a unique spectrum of military engineering techniques used by the United States in its seacoast fortifications from the Civil War through the Cold War; and are associated with important historical developments of the nation as an evolving international military power. The former military reservations that provide a relatively unchanged physical context for these fortifications also provide a spectacular backdrop of largely undeveloped open space at the edge of a great urban metropolis. This open space is not only a defining factor in the San Francisco Bay Area’s world-renowned scenic beauty, but has become the core of land around which was established the first of the nation’s urban national park areas. As the military posts containing these fortifications came under the management of the National Park Service, beginning with the establishment of Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 1972, the fortifications were evaluated for significance and integrity and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Fortifications in the Presidio, at Fort Point, and on Alcatraz Island are National Historic Landmarks. At present, the preparation of a National Landmark nomination is underway for the entire fortification network of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Even as the National Park Service recognized the need for developing a park-wide treatment program for preserving these valuable resources, its planners, technical personnel and field staff lacked the level of familiarity with the appropriate measures needed to stabilize, conserve, rehabilitate and maintain such a network of massive structures. Seacoast Fortifications is the first step in compiling and disseminating the information needed to preserve these fortifications. The National Park Service intends to follow this collaborative project with a comprehensive preservation maintenance plan for the entire network of the fifty major structures within the park. The manual will then enable park staff to utilize the best contemporary technology to treat the fortifications in a prioritized fashion, while preserving the historic fabric, and characteristics of feeling and setting that qualify the resource as a National Landmark. This project is an excellent example of government working in partnership with the private sector to preserve significant historic resources. An interdisciplinary team consisting of architectural historians, preservation architects and military historians from both the National Park Service and KEA Environmental, Inc. a private sector consultant prepared Seacoast http://www.nps.gov/goga/history/seaforts/ Page 2 of 3 Seacoast Fortifications Preservation Manual - GGNRA 1/22/03 2:17 PM Fortifications, informed by a wider group of preservationists who volunteered their time to participate in a preservation charette that met on-site to address the challenges of preserving these coast defense resources. The manual is based, in part, upon the experiences of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission in the planned management of its coast defense resources, and is informed by the thoughtful management standards for coastal lighthouses proposed by the National Maritime Initiative of the National Park Service. Seacoast Fortifications has already received attention outside the region as a model for similar documents planned to address seacoast defense resources on the West, Gulf and East coasts. See Table of Contents http://www.nps.gov/goga/history/seaforts/ Page 3 of 3 Seacoast Fortification Manual - Table of Contents 1/22/03 2:18 PM Seacoast Fortifications Preservation Manual GGNRA San Francisco, CA by: Joe C. Freeman, TABLE OF CONTENTS AIA Stephen A. Haller Acknowledgments David M. Hansen John A. Martini Karen J. Weitze Glossary of Terms National Park List of Acronyms Service & KEA Introduction Environmental Bibliography GGNRA San Francisco, Part I: History and Preservation for Coast Defenses CA Chapter 1: Why Preserve Coast Defenses? July 1999 Significance Reasons to Preserve Links Between the Coast Defenses of San Francisco and the Northwest Properties Addressed in the Maintenance Manual A Preservation Charette Graffiti Vegetation and Habitat Concrete Design and Site Settlement Observations Chapter 2: Historical Context for the Seacoast Fortifications of San Francisco Bay Prelude The Significance of the Seacoast Fortifications of San Francisco Bay The Spanish Colonial and Mexican Era, 1794-1846 Third System Fortifications, 1850-1861 Civil War and Post-Civil War, 1861-1884 Endicott Period, 1891-1928 (including the Taft Era and World War I) World War II Era, 1937-1948 Cold War Era Antiaircraft Defenses, 1952-1974 http://www.nps.gov/goga/history/seaforts/toc.htm Page 1 of 9 Seacoast Fortification Manual - Table of Contents 1/22/03 2:18 PM Concluding Remarks Chapter 3: Character-Defining Features Location and Site Principal Character-Defining Features Change Over Time Construction Materials Principal Character-Defining Features Change Over Time Structure Principal Character-Defining Features Change Over Time Linking Analysis to the Coast Defense Resource Checklist Chapter 4: Standards and Guidelines for the Preservation Process The Existing Management Plan Historic Preservation Guidelines Stewardship Technical Advice Levels of Treatment Rehabilitation Restoration and Reconstruction Preservation Historical Research and Evaluation The Archives and Documentation Conducting the Research Documentation of Existing Conditions Coast Defense Resource Checklist Photographs Photograph Plan Photograph Annotations Historic Photographs Cartographic Resources Feature Mapping Action Log Recommended and Not Recommended: A Summation Part II: Engineering, Design, Construction and Maintenance Issues Chapter 5: Historic Materials and Maintenance Methods Chronology of Structural Events: What was Built When, With What Materials? Post-Civil War, 1865-1876 http://www.nps.gov/goga/history/seaforts/toc.htm Page 2 of 9 Seacoast Fortification Manual - Table of Contents 1/22/03 2:18 PM Endicott and Taft Periods, 1885-1916 World War I — World War II, 1917-1945 The Cold War Selected Highlights Concrete Mixes of the 1890s Surfacing Schemes: Damp-Proof Coatings; Camouflage Paint, Washes, and Tints Site Preparation and Issues of Settlement: Excavations and Fill Landscape:
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Historic Structure Report: Battery Horace Hambright, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia
    National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Fort Pulaski National Monument Georgia Battery Horace Hambright Historic Structure Report Cultural Resources, Partnerships and Science Division Battery Horace Hambright Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia Historic Structure Report February 2019 Prepared by: Panamerican Consultants, Inc. 2390 Clinton Street Buffalo, New York 14227 Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. 330 Pfingsten Road Northbrook, Illinois 60062 Prepared for: National Park Service Southeast Regional Office 100 Alabama Street SW Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Cultural Resources, Partnership and Science Division Southeast Region National Park Service 100 Alabama Street, SW Atlanta, Georgia 30303 (404) 562-3117 About the front cover: View of Battery Horace Hambright from HABS GA-2158. This manuscript has been authored by Panamerican Consultants, Inc., and Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., under Contract Number P16PD1918 with the National Park Service. The United States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for United States Government purposes. Battery Horace Hambright Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia Historic Structure Report Contents List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Fort Funston, Panama Mounts for 155Mm Golden Gate National
    Fort Funston, Panama Mounts for 155mm Guns HAERNo. CA-193-A B8'•'■ANffiA. Golden Gate National Recreation Area Skyline Boulevard and Great Highway San Francisco San Francisco County California PHOTOGRAPHS WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA Historic American Engineering Record National Park Service Department of the Interior San Francisco, California 38 ) HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORD • FORT FUNSTON, PANAMA MOUNTS FOR 155mm GUNS HAERNo.CA-193-A Location: Fort Funston, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, City and County of San Francisco, California Fort Funston is located between Skyline Boulevard and the Pacific Ocean, west of Lake Merced. The Battery Bluff Panama mounts were located at Fort Funston, 1,200 feet north of Battery Davis' gun No. 1, close to the edge of the cliff overlooking the beach Date of Construction: 1937 Engineer: United States Army Corps of Engineers Builder: United States Army Corps of Engineers Present Owner: United States National Park Service Golden Gate National Recreation Area Building 201 Fort Mason San Francisco, CA 94123 Present Use: Not Currently Used Due to erosion, Battery Bluff Panama mounts have slipped to the beach below where they are still visible Significance: The Panama mounts of Battery Bluff are significant as they are a contributing feature to the Fort Funston Historic District which is considered eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The Panama mounts were the only guns of its type to be emplaced in the San Francisco Harbor Defenses. Report Prepared By: Darlene Keyer Carey & Co. Inc., Historic Preservation Architects 123 Townsend Street, Suite 400 San Francisco, CA 94107 Date: February 26, 1998 r FORT FUNSTON, PANAMA MOUNTS FOR 155mm GUNS HAERNO.CA-193-A PAGE 2 HISTORY OF FORT FUNSTON Fort Funston Historic District Fort Funston, which is located in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and is now considered the Fort Funston Historic District.
    [Show full text]
  • Goga Wrfr.Pdf
    The National Park Service Water Resources Division is responsible for providing water resources management policy and guidelines, planning, technical assistance, training, and operational support to units of the National Park System. Program areas include water rights, water resources planning, regulatory guidance and review, hydrology, water quality, watershed management, watershed studies, and aquatic ecology. Technical Reports The National Park Service disseminates the results of biological, physical, and social research through the Natural Resources Technical Report Series. Natural resources inventories and monitoring activities, scientific literature reviews, bibliographies, and proceedings of technical workshops and conferences are also disseminated through this series. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. Copies of this report are available from the following: National Park Service (970) 225-3500 Water Resources Division 1201 Oak Ridge Drive, Suite 250 Fort Collins, CO 80525 National Park Service (303) 969-2130 Technical Information Center Denver Service Center P.O. Box 25287 Denver, CO 80225-0287 Cover photos: Top: Golden Gate Bridge, Don Weeks Middle: Rodeo Lagoon, Joel Wagner Bottom: Crissy Field, Joel Wagner ii CONTENTS Contents, iii List of Figures, iv Executive Summary, 1 Introduction, 7 Water Resources Planning, 9 Location and Demography, 11 Description of Natural Resources, 12 Climate, 12 Physiography, 12 Geology, 13 Soils, 13
    [Show full text]
  • Fort Caswell Historic District Fort Caswell, West and South Walls
    NORTH CAROLINA STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE Office of Archives and History Department of Cultural Resources NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Fort Caswell Historic District Caswell Beach vicinity, Brunswick County, BW0230, Listed 12/31/2013 Nomination by Jennifer Martin Mitchell Photographs by Claudia Brown, January 2010, and Jennifer Martin Mitchell, July 2012 Fort Caswell, west and south walls – 1827-1838 19thth Company and 31st Company Barracks – 1901 Battery Bagley – 1898-1899 Historic District Map NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 10024-0018 (Oct. 1990) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking “x” in the appropriate box or by entering the information requested. If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter “N/A” for “not applicable.” For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items. 1. Name of Property historic name Fort Caswell Historic District, 31BW801** other names/site number 2. Location street & number 100 Caswell Beach Road N/A not for publication city or town Caswell Beach vicinity state North Carolina code NC county Brunswick code 019 zip code 28465 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set for in 36 CFR Part 60.
    [Show full text]
  • Board of Supervisors |
    FILE NO. 131002 RESOLUTION NO. ~ ~ b- \ ~ 1 [Opposing Golden Gate National Recreation Area's Draft Dog Walking Access Policy] 2 3 Resolution opposing the Golden Gate National Recreation Area's (GGNRA) currently 4 proposed preferred alternative for dog management; and urging the GGNRA to adopt a 5 different approach. 6 7 WHEREAS, Approximately 110,000 households in San Francisco own dogs that 8 require regular exercise; and 9 WHEREAS, San Franciscans and their dogs have traditionally enjoyed access for 1O generations to various properties under the present oversight of the Golden Gate National 11 Recreation Area (GGNRA), such as Crissy Field, Ocean Beach, Ft. Funston, Lands End, Ft. 12 Baker, Ft. Mason, Baker Beach and Sutro Heights Park; and 13 WHEREAS, The GGNRA was established, among other things, "to create an area that 14 concentrates on serving the outdoor recreation needs of the people of the metropolitan area;" 15 and 16 WHEREAS, In 1975, the City and County of San Francisco transferred Fort Funston, 17 Ocean Beach, and other city-owned lands to the federal government to be included in the 18 GGNRA and administered by the National Park Service after being given assurances that 19 recreational access and usage would be continued and protected; and 20 WHEREAS, The voters required that the deed transferring any City-owned park lands 21 to the National Park Service include the restriction that said lands were to be reserved by the 22 Park Service in perpetuity for recreation or park purposes with a right of reversion upon 23 breach
    [Show full text]
  • Presidio of San Francisco an Outline of Its Evolution As a U.S
    Special History Study Presidio of San Francisco An Outline of Its Evolution as a U.S. Army Post, 1847-1990 Presidio of San Francisco GOLDEN GATE National Recreation Area California NOV 1CM992 . Special History Study Presidio of San Francisco An Outline of Its Evolution as a U.S. Army Post, 1847-1990 August 1992 Erwin N. Thompson Sally B. Woodbridge Presidio of San Francisco GOLDEN GATE National Recreation Area California United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Denver Service Center "Significance, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder" Brian W. Dippie Printed on Recycled Paper CONTENTS PREFACE vii ABBREVIATIONS viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1: THE BEGINNINGS, 1846-1861 5 A. Takeover 5 B. The Indians 8 C. The Boundaries 9 D. Adobes, Forts, and Other Matters 10 CHAPTER 2: CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865 21 A. Organizing 21 B. Keeping the Peace 22 C. Building the Post 23 CHAPTER 3: THE PRESIDIO COMES OF AGE, 1866-1890 31 A. Peacetime 31 B. The Division Comes to the Presidio 36 C. Officers' Club, 20 46 D. Other Buildings 47 E. Troop Duty 49 F. Fort Winfield Scott 51 CHAPTER 4: BEAUTIFICATION, GROWTH, CAMPS, EARTHQUAKE, FORT WINFIELD SCOTT, 1883-1907 53 A. Beautification 53 B. Growth 64 C. Camps and Cantonments 70 D. Earthquake 75 E. Fort Winfield Scott, Again 78 CHAPTER 5: THE PRESIDIO AND THE FORT, 1906-1930 81 A. A Headquarters for the Division 81 B. Housing and Other Structures, 1907-1910 81 C. Infantry Terrace 84 D. Fires and Firemen 86 E. Barracks 35 and Cavalry Stables 90 F.
    [Show full text]
  • Park Report Part 1
    Alcatraz Island Golden Gate National Recreation Area Physical History PRE-EUROPEAN (Pre-1776) Before Europeans settled in San Francisco, the area was inhabited by Native American groups including the Miwok, in the area north of San Francisco Bay (today’s Marin County), and the Ohlone, in the area south of San Francisco Bay (today’s San Francisco peninsula). Then, as today, Alcatraz had a harsh environment –strong winds, fog, a lack of a fresh water source (other than rain or fog), rocky terrain –and there was only sparse vegetation, mainly grasses. These conditions were not conducive to living on the island. These groups may have used the island for a fishing station or they may have visited it to gather seabird eggs since the island did provide a suitable habitat for colonies of seabirds. However, the Miwok and Ohlone do not appear to have lived on Alcatraz or to have visibly altered its landscape, and no prehistoric archeological sites have been identified on the island. (Thomson 1979: 2, Delgado et al. 1991: 8, and Hart 1996: 4). SPANISH AND MEXICAN PERIOD (1776-1846) Early Spanish explorers into Alta California encountered the San Francisco Bay and its islands. (Jose Francisco Ortega saw the bay during his scouting for Gaspar de Portola’s 1769 expedition, and Pedro Fages described the three major islands –Angel, Alcatraz, and Yerba Buena –in his journal from the subsequent 1772 expedition.) However, the first Europeans to record their visit to Alcatraz were aboard the Spanish ship San Carlos, commanded by Juan Manuel de Ayala that sailed through the Golden Gate and anchored off Angel Island in August 1775.
    [Show full text]
  • Color Foba Clrv2.Indd
    National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Fort Baker, Barry and Cronkhite Historic District Marin County, California Cultural Landscape Report for Fort Baker Golden Gate National Recreation Area Cultural Landscape Report for Fort Baker Golden Gate National Recreation Area Fort Baker, Barry and Cronkhite Historic District Marin County, California July 2005 Acknowledgements Special thanks to Ric Borjes and Randy Biallas for getting this project underway. Project Team Pacific West Region Office - Seattle Cathy Gilbert Michael Hankinson Amy Hoke Erica Owens Golden Gate National Recreation Area Barbara Judy Jessica Shors Pacific West Region Office - Oakland Kimball Koch Len Warner Acknowledgements The following individuals contributed to this CLR: Golden Gate National Recreation Area Mai-Liis Bartling Stephen Haller Daphne Hatch Nancy Horner Steve Kasierski Diane Nicholson Nick Weeks Melanie Wollenweber Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy Erin Heimbinder John Skibbe Betty Young Golden Gate National Recreation Area Leo Barker Hans Barnaal Kristin Baron Alex Naar Marin Conservation Corp Francis Taroc PacificWest Region Office - Oakland Shaun Provencher Nelson Siefkin Robin Wills Presidio Trust Peter Ehrlich Ben Jones Michael Lamb Table of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgements List of Figures .................................................................................................................................iii Introduction Management Summary .................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The European Fortifications on the Coast of the Pacific Ocean
    Scientific Journal of Latvia University of Agriculture Landscape Architecture and Art, Volume 10, Number 10 The European fortifications on the coast of the Pacific Ocean Nikolay Kasyanov, Research Institute of Theory and History of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Russian Academy of Architecture and Construction Sciences, Moscow, Russia Abstract. In the Russian Empire during XIX and early XX centuries, fortresses were built and strengthened along the frontiers. We studied the architecture of the Far Eastern Russian cities-fortresses using as examples Nikolaevsk-on-Amur, Port Arthur (now Luishun) and mainly Vladivostok. Coastal fortresses significantly influenced the urban development of the Far Eastern cities. The architectural peculiarity of the fortress architecture at that period was associated with the transition from the brick and stone fortifications to the complex systems of monolithic reinforced concrete. In 1860, a military post with the expressive and geopolitically ambitious name "Vladivostok" ("Possess the East") was established. By the beginning of the XX century, Vladivostok became a rapidly growing city of the European culture and one of the most powerful marine fortresses in the world. The Vladivostok Fortress was an innovative project in early XX century and has distinctive features of the modern style (Art Nouveau), partly of the Russian and classical style in architecture, as well as an organic unity with the surrounding landscape. Plastic architectural masses with their non-linear shape are typical of the fortifications of Vladivostok. Vast and branching internal communication spaces link fort buildings, scattered on the surface and remote from each other. Huge, monumental forts located on the tops of mountains and fitted perfectly in the landscape are successful examples of landscape architecture.
    [Show full text]
  • Fish Terminologies
    FISH TERMINOLOGIES Monument Type Thesaurus Report Format: Hierarchical listing - class Notes: Classification of monument type records by function.
    [Show full text]
  • Battery Chamberlin U.S
    National Park Service Battery Chamberlin U.S. Department of the Interior Golden Gate National Recreation Area Practice firing of an original 6-inch gun mounted on a disappearing carriage, around 1910. Baker Beach, 1905 A voice bellows, "Load!" Like integral bring forward the 100-lb. shell on a ladle, parts of the gun they are loading, followed by another with a long pole thirteen soldiers spring into action. The who rams the shell into the barrel's first yanks open the breechblock (door) breech. The bag of gunpowder is heaved at the rear of the barrel, allowing the in behind, and the breechblock is swung next to shove the seven-foot sponge in shut and locked. Still another soldier and out of the firing chamber. Two men trips a lever, and the gun springs up on massive arms, above the wall behind which it was hidden. The sergeant shouts "Fire!" and tugs on the long lanyard attached to the rear of the gun. There is a deafening boom, a tongue of flame, and a huge cloud of smoke! The shell speeds toward a target mounted on a raft seven miles out to sea. The gun recoils, swinging back and down, behind the wall of the battery the men stand poised to reload. Sweating in their fatigues, they silently thank the sea breeze for cooling them. Only thirty seconds have passed, and they are once again reloading the gun. Gun drill at Battery Chamberlin around 1942. One soldier loads the gun powder bag as San Francisco History Center, SF Public Library San Francisco History Center, another with shell ladle withdraws.
    [Show full text]
  • Mill Valley Air Force Station East Is-Ridgecrest Boulevard, Mount Tarua.Lpais Mill Valley Vicinity .Marin County Califomia
    Mill Valley Air Force Station HABS No. CA-2615 East iS-Ridgecrest Boulevard, Mount Tarua.lpais Mill Valley Vicinity .Marin County califomia PHOTOGRAPHS WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA Historic American Buildings Survey National Park Service Western Region Department of the Interior San Francisco, California 94107 HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDING SURVEY MILL VALLEY AIR FORCE STATION HABS No. CA-2615 Location: On the summit of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California Off of California State Highway 1 on East Ridg~~rest Boulevard. West of Mill Valley, California. North of San Francisco, California. Universal Transverse Mercator Coordinates: 10.535320.4197 420 10.535000.4197000 I 0.534540.4196680 10.534580.4197000 10.535000.4197260 Present Owner: National Park Service leases the land from the Marin Municipal Water District. Present Occupant: Mostly vacant except for the operations area which is occupied by the Federal Aviation Administration Facility Present Use: Federal Aviation Administration Facility Significance: Mill Valley Air Force Station (MVAFS) played a significant role in the United States Air Defense system during the period of the Cold War. The threat of Soviet nuclear and air force power warranted the construction of early warning radar stations throughout the country. With the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent end to the Cold War, retrospective scholarship has labeled contributing defense systems, such as early warning radar, important features of United States military history. In fact, America's first major construction project as a result of Cold War hostilities was, apparently, the system of early warning radar stations of which Mill Valley Air Force Station was one.
    [Show full text]