An Endicott-period Army Post

Fort Baker is a historic army post located in the Marin Headlands. The post, built between 1902 and 1910, is one of the park’s best examples of the army’s “Endicott Period” military construction, named after the late 19^th century Secretary of War, William C. Endicott. The “Endicott Period” refers to the peace time years, between 1865 (the end of the Civil War) and 1898 (prior to the Spanish-American War), when the army had the time to look inward and make improvements to many of its existing military systems.

By the 1860s, many of the Army’s “modern” defense systems had become outdated and the War Department expressed growing concerns about the dilapidated condition of the country’s seacoast fortifications. As a response, in the 1890s, the War Department made sweeping recommendations for all existing U.S. seaports and proposals to modernize and re-arm all the seacoast forts. In addition to improving its seacoast defenses, the Army now turned its energy toward improving the living conditions of enlisted soldiers, in order to stem desertion, boost moral and attract a better class of recruits. 

Construction of Fort Baker

Between 1897 and 1905, the army constructed new, state-of-the-art seacoast fortifications, including Batteries Yates, Spencer, Kirby, Duncan and Orlando Wagner. The army created the Coast Artillery Corps to man the newly constructed batteries. In order to provide permanent housing for the soldiers, the army began a major construction campaign, constructing Fort Baker between 1901 and 1910. Most of the original Fort Baker buildings, designed in the Colonial Revival architectural style, were clustered around the post's main parade ground. The style is often characterized by large, stocky symmetrical buildings with classical elements, such as columns, wrap-around porches and decorative windows.

Improvements to Army Life

The design of these buildings at Fort Baker, built around the turn-of-the-19th century, represented the army’s new interest in providing its soldiers with a healthier living environment. Unlike the dark, cramped and often infested 19^th century frontier barracks, the large and well ventilated barracks at Fort Baker provided clean running water, ample interior space and modern, indoor toilet facilities. As on all army posts, Fort Baker contained a commanding officer's residence and a post headquarters. The army was also concerned with the health and education of its soldiers. As a result, Fort Baker also contained a 12-bed hospital and a fully-equipped gymnasium, that housed a reading room, a post exchange (which functioned as both a small-scale store and lunch room), and even a bowling alley.

Seacoast Fortifications

In order to adequately protect the valuable San Francisco Bay, the army continued to build more batteries along the coast line. The construction of Battery Mendell and Battery Alexander, in 1905, prompted the establishment of the Fort Barry military post in 1910. By the 1930s, Fort Baker and Fort Barry (and eventually Fort Cronkhite) became part of the Harbor Defenses of San Francisco. During World War II, the Harbor Defenses of San Francisco, tasked with guarding the harbor with underwater minefields and shore batteries, constructed a mine depot at Fort Baker. Fort Baker was an active military post up through World War II.

To learn more about the historic landscapes at Fort Baker, dowload the Cultural Landscape Report for Fort Baker (PDF file, 3,102 KB).

To learn more about the army life at Fort Baker, download the Fort Baker Walking Tour, Innovations in Army Post Life  (PDF file, 973 KB).

To learn more about the historic uses of the waterfront area, download the Fort Baker Walking Tour Horseshoe Cove: A Water Haven on San Francisco Bay (PDF file, 741 KB).