National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Fort Barry History Tour Fort Barry - Marin Headlands An Army Post Standing Guard Over the Marin Headlands Golden Gate National Parks Fort Barry soldiers with dairy cows. In the early years, the military and the dairy commu- nity lived peacefully side-by-side. However, cows did not always respect military boundaries and occasionally Fort Barry soldiers had to round up wayward dairy cows. (Photo circa 1920) EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICATM Printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks (rev. 1/2011) 0.5 1.2 0.3 1.8 0.3 1.8 1.3 1.5 0.8 0.9 0.3 1.3 1.7 0.7 1.5 0.6 1.2 1.3 1.3 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.7 0.9 1.0 0.5 0.3 0.7 0.4 1.4 0.9 1.1 0.7 0.5 1.3 0.3 0.2 0.7 1.3 0.3 1.0 0.5 1.91.9 0.9 0.7 1.1 1.9 0.6 0.3 0.2 Rodeo 0.2 Marin Headlands 0.9 Visitor Center FORT BARRY The Route Bunker This tour leads you through different parts of historic Fort Barry, covering 5 hilly miles through the Marin Headlands. Stop #1 and Stop # 2 are a comfortable, Road 1-mile walk where you can spend a pleasant hour wandering through the historic 6 buildings. Stops # 3 to # 7 are farther apart and cover approximately 4 miles so Headlands Stables they are better accessed by car. This tour also intersects with the Lagoon Trail and 7 Center for Rodeo Lagoon 1 5 Historic the Coastal Trail. the Arts Rifle Range Length: 1.6 5 miles 1.0 F Simm Battery ie onds 2 ld Number of stops: 7 Smith-Guthrie C Hostel o Nike n Time required: From 1–2 hours, depending on your means of travel. ze ay) Site lm w an e Accessibility: The route around the post is paved but watch for steps and Road (on Battery cracked pavement. The batteries are not wheelchair accessible. Alexander Battery Restrooms: Public bathrooms are located at the west end of the Marin Rathbone/McIndoe Headlands Visitor Center parking lot. For your safety: If you are driving, please pull over to take photographs. Take Battery extra caution when walking around the batteries as they have Wallace Bonita Bird Cove deteriorated in some places. Many of the buildings referenced Island YMCA on the tour are occupied by “park partner” non-profit groups 4 conducting business; please be respectful during your visit. 3 Battery Mendell 1 Tour Stop Welcome to Fort Barry, a 1908 army post that protected San Francisco with a line of gun bat- Accessible teries perched at the edge of the Pacific Ocean. Fort Barry is one of three historic military posts Cover: Fort Barry soldiers Parking North located in the Marin Headlands. Fort Barry, on their day off visit Battery Fort Baker and Fort Cronkhite were all con- Mendell with their lady friends. (Photo circa 1908) Restrooms structed at different times and the army man- aged each post separately. However, during All images from Golden Gate Point National Recreation Area, Bonita wartime, all three posts fell under the jurisdic- Park Archives and Record Cen- tion of the Harbor Defenses of San Francisco. ter, unless otherwise noted. 1 Fort Barry History Tour: An Army Post Standing Guard Over the Marin Headlands National Park Service 2 1 The U.S. Army in Marin County From the Marin Headlands Visitor Center In response, Secretary of War William C. parking lot, please take a moment to look at Endicott made sweeping recommendations the landscape around you at Fort Barry to the for all major seaports, and proposals to east and Rodeo Lagoon and the Pacific Ocean modernize and re-arm all the seacoast forts. to the west. Keep in mind that San Francisco The “Endicott Program,” as it was informally and the Golden Gate straits are close by, just known, became an expression of America’s over the hills to the south. new awareness of herself as a growing imperial power, the rise in the country’s industrial strength, and the new develop- Before Europeans arrived here, the Coast ments in military technology. Miwok lived on these lands for centuries. During the 18th and 19th century the Span- After the Spanish-American War (1898) ish and then later the Mexicans settled here. was over, the army turned its attention During the 19th century, prior to the U.S. towards the Marin Headlands, focusing military moving into the area, Marin County on the seacoast fortifications at the outer was best known for its very successful dairy line of defenses north of the Golden Gate. ranching community. The open land to the Between 1901 and 1905, the army con- Rodeo Lagoon in 1913. Even after the army established Fort Barry, the Marin Headlands was still north was once dotted with small, indi- structed five powerful batteries at Fort a very rural and open landscape. To the right are two Fort Barry army residences and the post vidual ranches that produced quality milk Barry that represented the new Endicott- guard house (no longer extant); across the lagoon, a diary farm is nestled in the valley where Fort products for San Francisco. San Francisco period upgrades: Battery Mendell, Battery Cronkhite is now located. (Photo circa 1913) Bay, just over the ridge to the south, with Alexander, Battery Smith-Guthrie, Bat- its sheltered harbor, rich natural resources, tery Samuel Rathbone and Battery Patrick and mile-wide entrance, has long been O’Rorke. recognized as an ideal location for defense Fort Barry: An Endicott-Period Military Post of the naval and port facilities by seacoast 2 fortifications at the harbor entrance. By the From the Marin Headlands Visitor Center, If time permits, walk down along the main Like most army posts, Fort Barry functioned 1850s, the U.S. Army realized that Marin’s carefully walk from the parking lot, cross- parade ground on Simmonds Road or on the as a small, self-sufficient town that sup- proximity to the ocean made for excellent ing Field Road onto Bodsworth Street, and upper Rosenstock Road to get a sense of the ported the needs of the soldiers. The post defense sites and began to negotiate the proceed up the hill. Turn left onto Simmonds historic post’s layout. Once you are at the had its own barracks, hospital, guardhouse purchase of the southernmost tip of Marin Road and continue straight towards the build- head of the main parade ground, look back (which jailed the occasional disorderly sol- for seacoast defense fortifications. ings, following the signs to the Headlands to get a great view of the post and glimpses dier), spacious officers’ residences, stables, By the end of the 1880s, as military technol- Center for the Arts and the Marin Headlands of Rodeo Lagoon, Fort Cronkhite and Rodeo storehouses, even its own bakery. The open, ogy expanded, many of the army’s “mod- Hostel. You can also pick up the Coastal Trail Beach. Feel free to walk around the historic grassy main parade ground in the center of ern” defense systems had become outdated here that leads you to the historic rifle range buildings, keeping in mind that some of the the post was dedicated to drills, marches, and the War Department expressed grow- (see Stop # 6) and the Golden Gate Bridge. buildings are private residences. parades, and public ceremonies, and served ing concerns about the dilapidated condi- as the physical and organizational center tion of the country’s seacoast fortifications. 3 Fort Barry History Tour: An Army Post Standing Guard Over the Marin Headlands National Park Service 4 of post life. The army intentionally located time when American democracy was in its Fort Barry’s most significant military build- infancy. The Colonial Revival style is often ings, like the post headquarters, the hospi- characterized by large, stocky symmetrical tal, the barracks, and the mess halls, facing buildings with classical elements, such as the main parade ground. Buildings that columns, porches and wide windows. Most served useful but less ceremonial functions, of these historic buildings at Fort Barry still such as the bakery, the storehouses and the retain much of their original building mate- coal sheds, were constructed further away rials, like metal-pressed ceilings, original from the heart of the post. plaster walls and built-in cabinetry. The Fort Barry buildings were designed in the Colonial Revival architectural style, Fort Barry was named in honor of Brig. which was popular in America at the turn of the 20th century. The goal of this architec- Gen. William Farquar Barry, a Civil War tural style, which favored clean, simple lines U.S. Army artillery officer who distin- and a minimal use of applied decoration, guished himself during the capture of was to inspire a sentimental remembrance Atlanta. of the United States’ early history, a Below: Fort Barry in 1928 showing the layout of the post. From left to right are the two barracks, the fire station, the hospital steward’s residence, the post hospital, the post headquarters and four duplex officers’ residences. The army planted trees around the buildings to provide necessary breaks from the wind. Above: Fort Barry soldiers proudly showing off their state-of-the art, Model 1903 Springfield rifles. Notice that the soldier fourth from the left is holding a bugle. The army used bugle calls for mark- ing the events of the day and company buglers frequently entered into friendly competitions.