Fort Point is a masonry seacoast fortification located on the southern side of the Golden Gate at the entrance to

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water f ...

. It is also the geographic name of the

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the ...

upon which the fort and the southern approach of the

Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...

were constructed. The fort was completed just before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

, to defend San Francisco Bay against hostile warships. The fort is now protected as Fort Point National Historic Site, a United States National Historic Site administered by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

as a unit of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It is now popular as a tourist viewing point of the Golden Gate Bridge directly over top of it.

History

In 1769 Spain occupied the San Francisco area and by 1776 had established the area's first European settlement, with a mission and a presidio. To protect against encroachment by the British and Russians, Spain selected ''Punta del Cantil Blanco'', a promontory with a high white cliff (''cantil blanco'') located at the narrowest part of the bay's entrance, to construct a fortification. The Castillo de San Joaquin was constructed in 1794, subordinate to the nearby Presidio de San Francisco. It was an

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for '' mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ...

structure housing nine to thirteen cannons. Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821, gaining control of the region and the fort, but in 1835 the Mexican army moved to Sonoma leaving the castillo's adobe walls to crumble in the wind and rain. On July 1, 1846, after the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...

broke out between Mexico and the United States, U.S. forces, including Captain John Charles Fremont, Kit Carson and a band of 10 followers, captured and occupied the empty castillo and

spiked Spiked may refer to: * A drink to which alcohol, recreational drugs, or a date rape drug has been added **Spiked seltzer, seltzer with alcohol ** Mickey Finn (drugs), a drink laced with a drug * Spiked (hairstyle), hairstyles featuring spikes * ' ...

(disabled) the cannons. Sometime during the Spanish and Mexican eras, the ''Punta del Cantil Blanco'' came to be known as the "Punta del Castillo" ("Castle Point"), which was carried over into the era of U.S. sovereignty, in rough translation, as "Fort Point".

U.S. era

Following the United States' victory in 1848,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

was annexed by the U.S. and became a state in 1850. The

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

of 1849 had caused rapid settlement of the area, which was recognized as commercially and strategically valuable to the United States. Military officials soon recommended a series of fortifications to secure San Francisco Bay. Coastal defenses were built at Alcatraz Island, Fort Mason, and Fort Point. 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 cliff down to above sea level. The structure featured seven-foot-thick walls and multi-tiered casemated construction typical of

Third System Seacoast defense was a major concern for the United States from its independence until World War II. Before airplanes, many of America's enemies could only reach it from the sea, making coastal forts an economical alternative to standing armies ...

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 K. Mansfield declared "this point as the key to the whole Pacific Coast...and it should receive untiring exertions". 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. Colonel

Albert Sidney Johnston Albert Sidney Johnston (February 2, 1803 – April 6, 1862) served as a general in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, figh ...

, 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 The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...

; he was killed at the

Battle of Shiloh The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was fought on April 6–7, 1862, in the American Civil War. The fighting took place in southwestern Tennessee, which was part of the war's Western Theater. The battlefield i ...

in 1862. File:Fort Point 1934.jpg, Fort Point in 1934, Golden Gate Bridge under construction File:Fort Point under bridge.jpg, View from under bridge. File:A general view of the northwest wall, in relation to the Fort Point arch of the golden gate bridge. View to southwest. - Fort Point, U.S. Highway 101, San Francisco, San HABS CAL,38-SANFRA,4-54.tif, A general view of the northwest wall, in relation to the Fort Point arch of the golden gate bridge. File:A view toward the southwest corner of the interior, showing the octagonal wooden structure atop the southwest circular staircase. - Fort Point, U.S. Highway 101, San Francisco, HABS CAL,38-SANFRA,4-60.tif, A view toward the southwest corner of the interior, showing the octagonal wooden structure atop the southwest circular staircase.

Fort Point and the Civil War

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. Severe damage to similar forts on the Atlantic Coast during the war – Fort Sumter in

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

and

Fort Pulaski A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

– 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 Winfield Scott (June 13, 1786May 29, 1866) was an American military commander and political candidate. He served as a general in the United States Army from 1814 to 1861, taking part in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the early s ...

after the hero of the war against Mexico. The name was later applied to an artillery post at the Presidio.

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 103 of the smooth-bore cannons at Fort Point had been dismounted and sold for scrap. The fort, moderately damaged in the 1906 earthquake, where the fort was used as a temporary refugee camp by the U.S Army, was used over the next four decades for

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

, training, and storage, however, in 1913, part of the interior wall was removed by the army in their short-lived attempt to make the fort the army detention barracks using soldier and prisoner labor. The detention barracks were later built on Alcatraz Island and was used until becoming a federal prison. Soldiers from the 6th U.S. Coast Artillery were stationed there during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

to guard minefields and the anti-submarine net that spanned the Golden Gate. New quarters and administrative buildings were constructed on the higher ground, behind the new Endicott batteries, moving Fort Scott to this location.

Preserving Fort Point

In 1926 the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to s ...

proposed preserving the fort for its outstanding military architecture. Funds were unavailable, and the ideas languished. Plans for the

in the 1930s called for the fort's removal, but Chief Engineer Joseph Strauss redesigned the bridge to save "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." The fort is situated directly below the southern approach to the bridge, underneath an arch that supports the roadway. Preservation efforts were revived after

. On October 16, 1970,

President Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...

signed a bill creating Fort Point National File:Fortpointcanons02-012006.JPG, Middle level of Fort Point File:Fortpoint02-01-2006.JPG, Cannons on display at Fort Point File:Fort Point, September 2019-8795.jpg, Interior of Fort Point Fort Point Stairs

Landmark status

Fort Point is designated as

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

#82, officially listed under the site's original name, Castillo De San Joaquín.

Recreation

The rocky point north of the fort produces waves, in the winter months, that are popular with surfers.

Media use

Fort Point is a popular filming location. It is also mentioned in other media.

In film

*In '' Dark Passage'' (1947), a fight scene with

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

on the bluff above the fort ends with his opponent falling to his death in what is now the fort's parking lot. * In the 1950 film ''

The Man Who Cheated Himself ''The Man Who Cheated Himself'' is a 1950 American crime film noir directed by Felix E. Feist and starring Lee J. Cobb, Jane Wyatt and John Dall. Plot Wealthy socialite Lois Frazer, divorcing her fortune-hunter husband, Howard, finds a gun he h ...

'', there is a five-minute search scene near the end of the film that was filmed at Fort Point and shows many shots of the fort. * The most famous example is

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's 1958 thriller '' Vertigo'', wherein Kim Novak's character jumps into the San Francisco Bay in an apparent suicide attempt. * In '' Point Blank'', the 1967

John Boorman Sir John Boorman (; born 18 January 1933) is a British film director, best known for feature films such as '' Point Blank'' (1967), ''Hell in the Pacific'' (1968), ''Deliverance'' (1972), '' Zardoz'' (1974), '' Exorcist II: The Heretic'' (1977 ...

noir movie starring Lee Marvin and

Angie Dickinson Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in ''Gun the Man Down'' (1956) wit ...

, it is shown as the location for the "Alcatraz Drop" at the closed

Alcatraz Prison United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island, also known simply as Alcatraz (, ''"the gannet"'') or The Rock was a maximum security federal prison on Alcatraz Island, off the coast of San Francisco, California, United States, the site of a ...

. However, in the final scene a continuous camera shot rises to show Alcatraz Prison in the distance, revealing this to be Fort Point. * In

Richard Lester Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and '' Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ' ...

's 1968 film ''

Petulia ''Petulia'' is a 1968 British-American drama film directed by Richard Lester and starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott and Richard Chamberlain. The film has a screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus from a story by Barbara Turner and is based on ...

'', George C. Scott's character plays with his boys, ignoring 'No Trespassing' signs, at Fort Point. * In the 1969 pilot film for the TV series ''

Then Came Bronson ''Then Came Bronson'' is an American adventure/drama television series starring Michael Parks that aired on NBC. It was created by Denne Bart Petitclerc, and produced by MGM Television. ''Then Came Bronson'' began with a television film pilot ...

'', Martin Sheen's character jumps to his death from Fort Point. * The phone booth scene in the 1977

Mel Brooks Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...

comedy '' High Anxiety'' took place beneath the Golden Gate Bridge at Fort Point, where the crucial water rescue scene takes place in Vertigo, part of the film's thematic homage to Alfred Hitchcock. * In the 1985

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

film '' A View To a Kill'' the fort can be seen in various aerial shots particularly the final scene which takes place above the

. *The 1999 film '' Bicentennial Man'' Starring Robin Williams has a scene featuring Fort Point as a bustling market. With the main building being home to NDR Robotics. * In the 2014 film '' Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'' the humans use Fort Point's armory to dramatically increase their firepower in the form of armored vehicles and large amounts of munitions. * The 2019 film ''

The Last Black Man in San Francisco ''The Last Black Man in San Francisco'' is a 2019 American drama film directed and produced by Joe Talbot in his directorial debut. He wrote the screenplay with Rob Richert and the story with Jimmie Fails, on whose life it is partly based. It s ...

'' filmed throughout San Francisco, with several scenes filmed outside and around the fort. *The fort is briefly shown on a television during the opening of the 2019 horror film '' Us''.

In games

* A building based on Fort Point is included in the 2004 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' as a night club called Jizzy's Pleasure Domes in the fictional city San Fierro heavily based on

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

. * Fort Point is also included in the video game ''

NBA Street ''NBA Street'' is a basketball video game developed by NuFX and EA Canada. It was released in 2001 by EA Sports BIG for the PlayStation 2 and in 2002 for the GameCube. It combines the talent and big names of the National Basketball Association ...

'' * Fort Point is included in the game ''

Midtown Madness 2 ''Midtown Madness 2'' is a 2000 open world racing video game for Microsoft Windows. It is the sequel to 1999's '' Midtown Madness'', developed by Angel Studios and published by Microsoft. Unlike its predecessor, which is entirely set in Chicago, ...

'' * Fort Point is one of the surf spots in '' Transworld Surf''. * Fort Point is a mission location in '' Watch Dogs 2''. * Fort Point (along with the Golden Gate Bridge) has been faithfully recreated in ''

Duke Nukem 3D ''Duke Nukem 3D'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by 3D Realms. It is a sequel to the platform games ''Duke Nukem (video game), Duke Nukem'' and ''Duke Nukem II'', published by 3D Realms. ''Duke Nukem 3D'' features the adventures ...

'' 20th Anniversary World Tour's episode 5, level 6, named Golden Carnage.

In television

*In '' The Amazing Race 16'', teams are here presented with a building's height, year built, and features. They must figure out that it's Coit Tower and go there to find their next clue. * In Season 3, Episode 20 of the television series '' The West Wing'', (titled " The Black Vera Wang"), Fort Point is the intended target of a foiled terrorist attack by Islamic fundamentalists, who are planning to attack the fort because of its proximity to the

. The attack is allegedly funded by the fictitious Arab nation of

Qumar ''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, ...

, a recurring source of terrorism over the course of the series. *Fort Point was in a made-for-TV movie "What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing." The movie was a spin off of the T.V. show '' Emergency!''. The movie opens with a tour guide talking about the Fort to a group of school-age kids. A worker falls from the Golden Gate Bridge and is hanging by his safety rope. *''

The Streets of San Francisco ''The Streets of San Francisco'' is a television crime drama filmed on location in San Francisco and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros. Television (QM produced the show on its ...

'', a crime drama television series produced by Quinn Martin Productions (1972–77), starring Karl Malden and

Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AF ...

, filmed a shootout scene in Fort Point. Karl Malden killed a "bad guy." *Featured in an episode of '' Emergency!'' as a rescue takes place above the fort on the girders below the

. *'' Murder, She Wrote '' episode "Birds of a Feather" opening credits are at Fort Point.

In Music

* The album cover image of Editors' album, '' The Back Room'' is of Fort Point.

In books

* The 1980

John Varley John Varley may refer to: * John Varley (canal engineer) (1740–1809), English canal engineer * John Varley (painter) (1778–1842), English painter and astrologer * John Varley (author) (born 1947), American science fiction author * John Silvest ...

science fiction novel '' Wizard'' begins at Fort Point, which in the book contains an embassy.

References

External links

Fort Point National Historic SiteEarly History of the California Coast, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
* ttp://www.militarymuseum.org/CastilloSanJoaquin.html Castillo de San Joaquin {{authority control Point Point Point Presidio of San Francisco Closed installations of the United States Army Golden Gate National Recreation Area Formerly Used Defense Sites in California Museums in San Francisco Military and war museums in California Military facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area National Historic Sites in California Point Point Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco Protected areas established in 1970 Tourist attractions in San Francisco 1970 establishments in California