Fort Point National Historic Site
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)
Location:	San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA
Nearest city:	San Francisco, California
Coordinates:	37°48′38″N, 122°28′38″W
Area:	29 acres (0.12 km²)
Established:	October 16, 1970
Visitation:	1,682,041 (in 2005)
Governing body:	National Park Service

Fort Point is a location at the south entrance to San Francisco Bay. Here, during the American Civil War, a fort was built to defend the Straits of the Golden Gate against passage of hostile warships. While it was not expected that ships of the Confederacy would enter here there was some considerable concern that a potential European ally (particularly the maritime forces of the United Kingdom) might attempt to capture the port of San Francisco. The fort is now protected as Fort Point National Historic Site, a U.S. National Historic Site administered by the National Park Service as a unit of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Spirit expedition 2005-2006 The World Conservation Union or International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ... Image File history File links Locator_Dot. ... Image File history File links US_Locator_Blank. ... USGS Satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... It has been suggested that Califas be merged into this article or section. ... Nickname: The City by the Bay; Fog City Location of the City and County of San Francisco, California Coordinates: City-County San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom Area    - City 600. ... October 16 is the 289th day of the year (290th in leap years). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... The National Park Service (NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. ... San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate The San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining of approximately forty percent of California, flowing in Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert Edward Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... This article is about the strait in California. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... National Historical Park or National Historic Park is a designation for a protected area in the United States that has national historic significance and consists of more than single properties or buildings. ... The National Park Service (NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations. ... The Golden Gate National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area, administered by the National Park Service, which surrounds the San Francisco Bay area. ...

History

The entrance to San Francisco Bay has long been the site of human habitation. The earliest residents of the area, ancestors of the Ohlone and Coast Miwok peoples, depended on the bay's waters for food and transportation. There is evidence from about 4,000 years ago of an Ohlone village located about a mile from Fort Point along the shore. San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate The San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining of approximately forty percent of California, flowing in Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ... Map of the Costanoan languages The Ohlone (formerly Costanoan) are an ethnic group whose members lived in what is now the San Francisco Bay Area and Monterey Bay areas of California until after the European discovery and settling of this area. ... Bodega Bay as viewed from present-day Dillon Beach, was ancient homeland of the Coastal Miwok. ...

The Castillo de San Joaquin

Taken from outside.

In 1769 Gaspar de Portolà's overland expedition reached San Francisco Bay. By 1776 Spain had established the area's first European settlement, with a mission and a presidio. Fearful of encroachment by the British and Russians, Spain fortified the high white cliff at the narrowest part of the bay's entrance, where Fort Point now stands. The Castillo de San Joaquin, built in 1794, was an adobe structure housing nine to thirteen cannon. The little fortress guarded the Spanish colony until 1821, when Mexico won independence from Spain and gained control of the region. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3024x2097, 905 KB) Summary Photographed by and copyright of (c) David Corby (User:Miskatonic, uploader) 2006 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Fort Point User:Miskatonic ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3024x2097, 905 KB) Summary Photographed by and copyright of (c) David Corby (User:Miskatonic, uploader) 2006 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Fort Point User:Miskatonic ... 1769 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Gaspar de Portolà (circa 1717 – aft. ... San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate The San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining of approximately forty percent of California, flowing in Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ... This article is about the year 1776. ... The Parade Grounds at the Presidio of San Francisco. ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... It has been suggested that Mudbrick be merged into this article or section. ... This article needs cleanup. ... The coronation banquet for George IV 1821 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Taken from the middle level

In 1835 the Mexican army moved to Sonoma and the castillo's adobe walls were left to crumble in the wind and rain. War broke out between Mexico and the United States in 1846. On July 1, U.S. Army officer John Charles Fremont, along with Kit Carson and a band of 10 followers, stormed the castillo and spiked the cannons. They discovered that the fortress was empty. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (3456x2304, 3607 KB) Summary Photographed by and copyright of (c) David Corby (User:Miskatonic, uploader) 2006 These cannons are in Fort Point. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (3456x2304, 3607 KB) Summary Photographed by and copyright of (c) David Corby (User:Miskatonic, uploader) 2006 These cannons are in Fort Point. ... | Come and take it, slogan of the Texas Revolution 1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Sonoma is a town located in Sonoma County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 9,128. ... John C. Frémont John Charles Frémont (January 21, 1813-July 13, 1890), birth name John Charles Fremon [Harvey, p. ... Kit Carson Kit Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868), born Christopher Houston Carson, was an American frontiersman. ...

Following the United States' victory in the Mexican-American War in 1848, California, among other states, was forfeited to the U.S. Later that year, the California Gold Rush lured tens of thousands of prospectors with the hopes of finding an easy fortune. Most of these prospectors arrived by sea, making San Francisco the major West Coast harbor as of 1849. Following California's achieving statehood in 1850, U.S. Army and Navy officials recommended a series of fortifications to secure San Francisco Bay. Coastal defenses were built at Alcatraz Island, Fort Mason, and Fort Point. Combatants United States Mexico Commanders Zachary Taylor Winfield Scott Stephen W. Kearney Antonio López de Santa Anna Mariano Arista Pedro de Ampudia Strength 7,000 - 43,000 18,000 - 40,000 Casualties KIA: 1,733 Total dead: 13,283 Wounded: 4,152 25,000 killed or wounded (Mexican government... 1848 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that Califas be merged into this article or section. ... The California Gold Rush (1848-1855) was the first “world-class gold rush. ... 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... The multinational Combined Task Force One Five Zero (CTF-150) The British Grand Fleet, the supreme naval force of World War I A rare occurrence of a 5-country multinational fleet, during Operation Enduring Freedom in the Oman Sea. ... Alcatraz Island in 2005 Alcatraz Island (, ) is located in the middle of San Francisco Bay in California. ... Historic wharves near Fort Mason Fort Mason in San Francisco, California is a former U.S. Army base located at the northern Marina District, alongside San Francisco Bay. ...

Fort Point and the Civil War

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began work on Fort Point in 1853. Plans specified that the lowest tier of artillery be as close as possible to water level so cannonballs could ricochet across the water's surface to hit enemy ships at the water-line. Workers blasted the 90-foot cliff down to 15 feet above sea level. The structure featured seven-foot-thick walls and multi-tiered casemated construction typical of Third System forts. It was sited to defend the maximum amount of harbor area. While there were more than 30 such forts on the East Coast, Fort Point was the only one on the West Coast. In 1854 Inspector General Joseph F.K. Mansfield declared "this point as the key to the whole Pacific Coast...and it should receive untiring exertions". United States Army Corps of Engineers logo The United States Army Corps of Engineers, or USACE, is made up of some 34,600 military men and women. ... 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1854 (MDCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Cannons on display at Fort Point

A crew of 200, many unemployed miners, labored for eight years on the fort. In 1861, with war looming, the Army mounted the fort's first cannon. Col. Albert Sidney Johnston, commander of the Department of the Pacific, prepared Bay Area defenses and ordered in the first troops to the fort. Kentucky-born Johnston then resigned his commission to join the Confederate Army; he was killed at the Battle of Shiloh in 1862. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (3456x2304, 3071 KB) Summary Photographed by and copyright of (c) David Corby (User:Miskatonic, uploader) 2006 Fort Point sits under the Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco California taken Febuary 04 2006 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (3456x2304, 3071 KB) Summary Photographed by and copyright of (c) David Corby (User:Miskatonic, uploader) 2006 Fort Point sits under the Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco California taken Febuary 04 2006 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file... 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Albert Sidney Johnston Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) was a career U.S. Army officer and a Confederate general during the American Civil War. ... This article is in need of attention. ... Combatants United States of America Confederate States of America Commanders Ulysses S. Grant Don Carlos Buell Albert Sidney Johnston† P.G.T. Beauregard Strength Army of West Tennessee (48,894) and Army of the Ohio (17,918) Army of Mississippi (44,699) Casualties 13,047 (1,754 killed, 8,408... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Throughout the Civil War, artillerymen at Fort Point stood guard for an enemy that never came. The Confederate raider CSS Shenandoah planned to attack San Francisco, but on the way to the harbor the captain learned that the war was over; it was August 1865. Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert Edward Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Motto: Deo Vindice (Latin: With God As Our Vindicator) Anthem: God Save the South (unofficial) Dixie (popular) The Bonnie Blue Flag (popular) Capital Montgomery, Alabama (February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861) Richmond, Virginia (May 29, 1861–April 2, 1865) Danville, Virginia (April 3–April 10, 1865) Largest city New Orleans... The CSS Shenandoah, formerly Sea King, was an iron-framed, teak-planked, full-rigged vessel with auxiliary steam power, under Captain James Waddell, CSN, a North Carolinian with twenty years service in the Federal navy. ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ...

Severe damage to similar forts on the Atlantic Coast during the war - Fort Sumter in South Carolina and Fort Pulaski in Georgia - challenged the effectiveness of masonry walls against rifled artillery. Troops soon moved out of Fort Point, and it was never again continuously occupied by the Army. The fort was nonetheless important enough to receive protection from the elements. In 1869 a granite seawall was completed. The following year, some of the fort's cannon were moved to Battery East on the bluffs nearby, where they were more protected. In 1882 Fort Point was officially named Fort Winfield Scott after the famous hero from the war against Mexico. The name never caught on and was later applied to an artillery post at the Presidio. Fort Sumter, located in Charleston, South Carolina, harbor, was named after General Thomas Sumter. ... Official language(s) English Capital Charleston(1670-1789) Columbia(1790-present) Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Area  Ranked 40th  - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 260 miles (420 km)  - % water 6  - Latitude 32°430N to 35... Fort Pulaski National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service located between Savannah and Tybee Island, Georgia. ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar. ...

Into a New Century

In 1892 the Army began constructing the new Endicott System concrete fortifications armed with steel, breech-loading rifled guns. Within eight years, all 102 of the smooth-bore cannons at Fort Point had been dismounted and sold for scrap. The fort, moderately damaged in the 1906 earthquake, was used over the next four decades for barracks, training, and storage. Soldiers from the 6th U.S. Coast Artillery were stationed there during World War II to guard minefields and the anti-submarine net that spanned the Golden Gate. 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Arnold Genthes famous photograph of San Francisco following the earthquake, looking towards the fire on Sacramento Street. ... Barracks is usally used to connote a type of military housing. ... This article, image, template or category should belong in one or more categories. ... Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead...

Preserving Fort Point

Fort Point, below the Golden Gate Bridge.

In 1926 the American Institute of Architects proposed preserving the fort for its outstanding military architecture. Funds were unavailable, and the ideas languished. Plans for the Golden Gate Bridge in the 1930s called for the fort's removal, but Chief Engineer Joseph Strauss redesigned the bridge to save the fort. "While the old fort has no military value now," Strauss said, "it remains nevertheless a fine example of the mason's art.... It should be preserved and restored as a national monument." Currently it is situated directly below the southern approach to the bridge, underneath an arch that supports the roadway (visible on the right side of the photo). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 509 KB) Summary Photograph of Fort Point, under the Golden Gate Bridge, taken in June 2005 by Dvortygirl, San Francisco, California. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 509 KB) Summary Photograph of Fort Point, under the Golden Gate Bridge, taken in June 2005 by Dvortygirl, San Francisco, California. ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is the professional organization for architects in the United States. ... The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening into the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Joseph Baermann Strauss (January 9, 1870 - May 16, 1938) was a American engineer and designer. ...

Preservation efforts were revived after World War II. On October 16, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the bill creating Fort Point National Historic Site. The fort tells the story of its years spent guarding the Golden Gate. Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ...

View of the Golden Gate Bridge, with the arch over Fort Point on the right side

Download high resolution version (900x239, 75 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (900x239, 75 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening into the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. ...

See also

• 49-Mile Scenic Drive
• Presidio of San Francisco
• Alcatraz

49-Mile Scenic Drive sign The 49-Mile Scenic Drive (also known as 49-Mile Drive) in and around San Francisco highlights many of The Citys major attractions and historic structures. ... The Parade Grounds at the Presidio of San Francisco. ... Alcatraz Island is located in the middle of San Francisco Bay in California. ...

External links

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Fort Point

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• Fort Point National Historic Site
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