Fort Point Digital Brochure

The key to the whole Pacific coast Sentinel at the Golden Gate Planning Your Visit At the outbreak of the Civil War, newly constructed The entrance to San Fran cisco Bay of 10 followers, stormed the castil- Fort Point and the Civil War System forts (see diagram on the ed. In 1882 Fort Point was officially Preserving Fort Point Fort Point Na tion al Historic Site has long been the site of human lo and spiked the cannons. They dis- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers other side of this brochure). In named Fort Winfield Scott after In 1926 the American Institute stands beneath the southern Fort Point stood as a prime example of the U.S. Army’s habitation. The earliest residents, covered that the fort ress was empty. began work on Fort Point in 1853. 1854 Inspector Gen. Joseph F.K. the famous hero from the war of Architects proposed preserv- end of the Golden Gate Bridge most sophisticated coastal fortifications. Military offi- ancestors of the Ohlone and It was sited to defend the maxi- Mansfield de clared “this point as against Mexico. The name never ing the fort for its outstanding (see below). Parking is limited. Miwok peoples, de pended on the After the United States prevailed mum amount of harbor area. Plans the key to the whole Pacific Coast caught on and was later applied to military architecture. Funds were For public bus information call cials de clared its position at the Golden Gate as the bay’s waters for food and trans- in the war against Mexico in 1848, specified that the lowest artillery . and it should re ceive untiring an artillery post at the Presidio. not available, and the idea lan- 415-673-6864. For current park “key to the whole Pacific coast.” Its massive brick walls portation. There is evidence of a Cali fornia was ceded to the United tier be as close as possible to water exertions.” guished. Plans for the Golden hours of operation call 4,000-year-old Ohlone village site States. The gold strike that year at level so cannonballs could ricochet Into a New Century Gate Bridge in the 1930s called 415- 556-1693. looked to be impenetrable. Even as its praises were along the bay shore about a mile Sutter’s Mill on the American River across the water’s surface toward A crew of 200, many un employed In 1892 the Army began con- for the fort’s removal, but Chief being sung, new rifled artil lery was in use that could from Fort Point. lured tens of thousands of prospec- enemy ships. Workers blasted the miners, labored for eight years structing the new Endicott Engineer Joseph Strauss rede- The fort is closed on Thanks tors. Most of the Forty niners ar- 90-foot cliff down to 15 feet above on the fort. In 1861, with war System concrete fortifica- signed the bridge to save the giving, December 25, and Janu- bore through masonry walls— as had happened at simi- The Castillo de San Joaquin rived by sea, making San Fran cisco sea level. Seven- foot-thick walls looming, the Army mounted tions armed with steel, fort. “While the old fort has no ary 1. The fort is wheelchair In 1769 Gaspar de Portolá’s over- the major West Coast harbor as of and multi-tiered casemated con- the fort’s first cannon. Col. breech-loading rifled guns. military value now,” Strauss said, accessible on the ground floor, lar forts on the East Coast. Fort Point never saw action. / LINDA YAMANE CONSERVANCY PARKS NATIONAL GOLDEN GATE land expedition reached San Fran- 1849. struction were typical of Third Albert Sid ney Johns ton, com- Within eight years, all 102 “it remains nevertheless a fine including the theater. Visitor It survives as a monument to a bygone era and a place Above: Ohlone Indians. National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior National Historic Site California Below: Spanish flag, 1793. cisco Bay. By 1776 Spain had es- mander of the Depart ment of Fort Point’s smooth- example of the mason’s art . activities include a brief intro- where you can explore life at a coastal defense garrison. tablished the area’s firstEuro pean When Cali fornia became the 31st of the Pacific, prepared Bay bore cannon were dis- It should be preserved and re- ductory film, cannon-loading settlement, with a mission and a state in 1850, the U.S. Army and Area defenses and ordered mounted and sold for stored as a national monument.” de monstrations, and guided presidio (military post). Fear ful of Navy officials recom mended a in the first troops to the scrap. The fort, moderate- and self-guided tours. encroachment by the British and series of fortifications to secure fort. Kentucky- born John- ly damaged in the 1906 Preservation efforts were revived Russians, Spain fortified the high San Fran cisco Bay. Coastal de- ston then resigned his earthquake, was used after World War II. On October Fort Point Na tional Historic Site white cliff at the narrowest part fenses were built at Fort Point commission to join the over the next four de- 16, 1970, President Richard Nixon Bldg. 201, Fort Mason of the bay’s entrance, where Fort and several other strategic points Con federate Army; he was cades for barracks, train- signed the bill creating Fort San Francisco, CA 94123 Point now stands. The Castillo de (see map below). killed at the Battle of Shiloh ing, and storage. Sol diers Point National Historic Site. The 415-556-1693 San Joaquin, built in 1794, was in 1862. from the 6th U.S. Coast fort tells the story of its years TTY 415-556-0505 an adobe structure housing nine Artillery were stationed spent guarding the Golden Gate. www.nps. gov/fopo NPS to 13 cannon. The little fort ress Throughout the war, artillery- here during World War II guarded the Spanish colony until men stood guard for an ene- to guard minefields and 1821, when Mexico won indepen- my that never came. The NPS the anti-submarine net that dence from Spain and gained Confederate raider CSS Shenan- spanned the Golden Gate. control of the region. doah planned to at tack San Fran- cisco, but on the way to the har- In 1835 the Mexican army moved bor the captain learned that the to Sonoma, and the castillo’s ado- war was over. It was August 1865. Above: 1860s Federal coastal defense be walls were left to crumble in soldier’s dress uniform. Below: 10-inch Columbiad cannon at Fort the wind and rain. War broke out Severe damage to similar forts on Sumter, S.C. Fort Point had two of these be tween Mex ico and the United the Atlantic Coast during the war— cannon during the Civil War. States in 1846. On July 1, U.S. Fort Sumter in South Carolina and Army officer John Char les Fré mont, Fort Pulaski in Georgia—challenged San Fran cisco Bay’s Third System coastal defenses 1850–1884. Top: Red dots show along with Kit Car son and a band the effectiveness of masonry walls locations of Civil War-era Third System defenses. against rifled artillery. Troops soon left Fort Point, and it was never again continuously occupied by the Army. The fort was nonethe- less important enough to receive protection from the elements. In 1869 a granite sea wall was com- pleted. The following year, some of the fort’s cannon were moved © DAVID W. RICKMAN W. © DAVID to Battery East on the bluffs near- NPS FLAG RESEARCH CENTER FLAG RESEARCH CENTER by, where they were more protect- The 33-star United States flag, in use Above: Spanish soldier, 1770s. Bear flag, symbol of the 1846 revolt Mexican flag. NPS NPS against Mexican rule. for the first half of 1861. HARPER’S PICTORIAL HISTORY REBELLION OF THE GREAT Golden Gate Bridge tower foundation construction, 1933. Fort Point Left: Fort Point, 1870. Lighthouse Artillery and Hotshot Bastions and Seawall The admiration and pride of the Pacific This is the third lighthouse built north of the fort at the tip of the Fort Point never mounted its Each of Fort Point’s bastions held in 15 feet of the water, a seawall Between 1817 and 1867 the nation’s coastal defense system at this site—a natural promontory point, suffered continual erosion. planned 141 cannon. By October 15 small cannon to discourage at- (right) was needed for protection. included some 30 forts along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. from which to guide mariners The present lighthouse was used 1861 there were 69 guns in and tackers from scaling the fort. By This 1,500-foot-long structure is Fort Point was the only fort of this era built on the West through waters treacherous in fog. from 1864 until 1934, when the around the fort: 24-, 32-, 42- protruding from the main struc- an im pressive engineering feat. Coast. An 1857 newspaper article praised the fort’s “solid The first was demolished shortly foundation for the Golden Gate pounders and 10- and 8-inch Co- NPS ture, the bastions allowed defend- Granite stones were fitted togeth- after construction in 1852 to make Bridge blocked its light. lumbiads (right). After the war, ers to fire from a protected posi- er and the spaces between them masonry of more than ordinary artistic skill . We venture way for Fort Point. The second, the Army in stalled powerful 10- fort had “hotshot” furnaces: iron tion along their own walls rather sealed with strips of lead.

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