Fort Point National Historic Site National Park Service photo by Richard Frear

Fort Point National Historic Site, located at the northern tip of San Francisco Peninsula, is the site where explorer Juan Bautista de Anza raised the Spanish flag and chose the site for the presidio in 1776. Fort Point was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1853 and 1861 to protect the entrance to San Francisco Bay. It is the only Third System brick fort on the west coast of the United States. The fort became obsolete and troops were withdrawn in 1886. Between 1933 and 1937 the fort served as a base of operations for the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. The military occupied the fort again in World War II when soldiers manned searchlights and rapid-fire cannons atop the fort to protect a submarine net strung across the entrance to the bay. The fort has exhibits on 19th century weapons and soldier life, construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, women in U.S. military history, and the African American soldier experience.

Fort Point, administered by the National Park Service, is located at the Presidio of San Francisco and is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The fort can be reached via Lincoln Blvd. to Long Ave. and is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:00am to 5:00pm (closing procedures starts at 4:50 PM). The fort is closed Monday-Thursday (during Golden Gate Bridge retrofit work) and on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. There is no fee. For more information call 415- 556-1693 or visit Fort Point's website.