Fort Point (San Francisco, California)
San Francisco · California · Civil War
History & Significance
Fort Point was built in the Army's traditional 'Third System' style of military architecture (a standard adopted in the 1820s), and would be the only fortification of this impressive design constructed west of the Mississippi River. At the outbreak of the Civil War, newly constructed Fort Point stood as a prime example of the U.S. Army's most sophisticated coastal fortifications.
The fort was designed to mount 126 massive cannon. Brig. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, although soon to resign his position commanding the Department of the Pacific to join the Confederacy, directed the occupation of Fort Point in February 1861.
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, months after General Lee surrendered.
The fort was occupied throughout the Civil War, but the advent of faster, more powerful rifled cannon made brick forts such as Fort Point obsolete. In 1886 the troops were withdrawn, and the last cannon were removed about 1900.
In the late 1930s, plans for the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge also involved plans for the demolition of Fort Point. Fortunately, Chief Engineer Joseph Strauss recognized the architectural value of the Fort and created a special engineer arch which allowed the construction of the bridge to occur safely over the Fort. On October 16, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed a bill creating Fort Point National Historic Site.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Civil War-era brick and masonry fortress at Golden Gate Bridge entrance
- Spanish colonial-era foundations (1794 Castillo de San Joaquín) underlying U.S. Army construction
- Cannon emplacements and gun decks illustrating 19th-century coastal defense strategy
- Views of Golden Gate Bridge, Bay, and Marin Headlands from ramparts
- National Park Service museum exhibits covering fort's military and cultural history
Sources
- https://www.nps.gov/fopo/index.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Point_National_Historic_Site
- https://presidio.gov/explore/attractions/fort-point-national-historic-site
- https://www.nationalparks.org/explore/parks/fort-point-national-historic-site
- https://www.battlefields.org/visit/heritage-sites/fort-point
- https://www.nps.gov/fopo/learn/historyculture/upload/SentryatGoldenGate%20for%20web.doc
- https://npshistory.com/publications/fopo/index.htm
- https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1997/winter/fort-point-national-historic-site