CALIFORNIA HISTORIC MILITARY BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES INVENTORY VOLUME II: THE HISTORY AND HISTORIC RESOURCES OF THE MILITARY IN CALIFORNIA, 1769-1989 by Stephen D. Mikesell Prepared for: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District 1325 J Street Sacramento, California Contract: DACA05-97-D-0013, Task 0001 FOSTER WHEELER ENVIRONMENTAL CORPORATION Prepared by: JRP JRP HISTORICAL CONSULTING SERVICES Davis, California 95616 March 2000 California llistoric Military Buildings and Stnictures Inventory, Volume II CONTENTS CONTENTS ..................................................................................................................................... i FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF ACRONYMS .................................................................................................................. iv PREFACE .................................................................................................................................... viii 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1-1 2.0 COLONIAL ERA (1769-1846) .............................................................................................. 2-1 2.1 Spanish-Mexican Era Buildings Owned by the Military ............................................... 2-8 2.2 Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 2-8 3.0 FRONTIER ERA (1846-1865) ............................................................................................. 3-l 3.1 Conquest and Military Government .............................................................................. 3-1 3.2 Army Forts on the Frontier ............................................................................................ 3-2 3.3 Permanent Army and Navy Facilities ............................................................................ 3-6 3.3.1 Mare Island Shipyard .......................................................................................... 3-9 3.3.2 Benicia Arsenal ................................................................................................. 3-13 3.3.3 San Diego Barracks ........................................................................................... 3-14 3.4 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 3-15 4.0 TRADITIONAL ERA (1866-1902) ...................................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Presidio of San Francisco .............................................................................................. 4-2 4.2 Mare Island .................................................................................................................... 4-5 4.3 Other Army Posts .......................................................................................................... 4-9 4.4 Coastal Defense ........................................................................................................... 4-10 4.5 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 4-13 5.0 MODERNIZATION ERA (1903-1918) ............................................................................... 5-1 5.1 Mare Island .................................................................................................................... 5-2 5.2 Other Navy Bases .......................................................................................................... 5-7 5.3 Modernizing the Army .................................................................................................. 5-8 5.4 Early Military Aviation ............................................................................................... 5-13 5.5 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 5-18 California llistoric Military Buildings and Stnictures Inventory, Volume II 6.0 INTERW AR ERA ( 1919-1938) ........................................................................................... 6-1 6.1 The Development of San Diego as a "Navy Town" ...................................................... 6-4 6.2 Air Fields, Navy and Air Corps ..................................................................................... 6-7 6.3 Other Navy Stations ..................................................................................................... 6-12 6.4 The Marine Corps Recruit Depot, the First Independent Marine Corps Facility on the West Coast.. ........................................................................................................ 6-17 6.5 Army Installations During the Interwar Years ............................................................. 6-20 6.6 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 6-22 7.0 WORLD WAR TIERA (1939-1945) .................................................................................... 7-1 7 .1 Preparedness Before Pearl Harbor ................................................................................. 7-2 7.2 Training Camps ............................................................................................................. 7-9 7 .3 Aviation Fields ............................................................................................................. 7-12 7.4 Supply Depots .............................................................................................................. 7-16 7.5 Shipyards ..................................................................................................................... 7-19 7.6 Specialty Installations .................................................................................................. 7-20 7.7 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 7-23 8.0 COLD WAR ERA ( 1946-1989) .......................................................................................... 8-1 8.1 High Technology Installations .................................................................................. 8-2 8.2 Korea ......................................................................................................................... 8-5 8.3 Conventional vs. Nuclear Weaponry ......................................................................... 8-6 8.4 Vietnam ................................................................................................................... 8-10 8.5 After Vietnam .......................................................................................................... 8-13 8.6 Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 8-15 9.0 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................... 9-1 9.1 How to Use this Context to Evaluate Historic Properties ......................................... 9-2 10.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY .............................................................................................................. 10-1 11 California llistoric Military Buildings and Stnictures Inventory, Volume II FIGURES Figure Page 1. Spanish Presidios and barracks during the Colonial Era, 1769-1846 .................................... 2-3 2. Original general plan for the Presidio of Santa Barbara ......................................................... 2-6 3. Selected military bases during the Frontier Era, 1846-1865 .................................................. 3-3 4. View of Fort Point, Presidio of San Francisco, taken in 1929 ............................................... 3-8 5. Major military bases in California after the Civil War, 1866-1902 ...................................... .4-3 6. Commanding Officer's quarters at Mare Island (1998 view) ................................................ .4-8 7. Major military bases in California during the Modernization Era, 1903 - 1918 .................... 5-3 8. Crews working on Destroyer Ward, Mare Island ................................................................... 5-6 9. Yerba Buena Island and Treasure Island, aerial view taken May 8, 1952 ............................. 5-9 10. Fort Winfield Scott at the Presidio of San Francisco, 1961 ................................................. 5-12 11. View of North Island, 1925 ................................................................................................. 5-15 12. March Field near Riverside, built to standard plans during World War I.. ......................... 5-16 13. Mather Field near Sacramento, built to standard plans during World War I ...................... 5-16 14. Major bases built or expanded during the Interwar Years 1919-1939 .................................. 6-3 15. Barracks at March Field ...................................................................................................... 6-10 16. Headquarters Building, Hamilton Field .............................................................................. 6-10 17. Headquarters Building, Naval Air Station, North Island, near San Diego .......................... 6-13 18. Naval