• East view from Crissy Field overlook with old Coast Guard station on left and city on right

    Presidio of San Francisco

    California

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  • CAUTION: Post Storm Damage to Coastal Trail

    The Presidio Coastal Trail segment just north of the Pacific Overlook and adjacent to Lincoln Blvd remains CLOSED indefinitely. We have posted signage to alert bicyclists and hikers and with information for safe trail alternatives. More »

Fort Scott: Battery Crosby (1900-1943)

Test-firing at Battery Crosby
A 6-inch gun at Battery Crosby firing a practice round. The gun was mounted in July 1902 and remained in service until 1943.
National Park Service, GGNRA
 

General Information

Built to protect underwater minefields laid outside the Golden Gate, this Endicott-era battery was completed and armed in 1900. Armed with two 6-inch guns mounted on disappearing carriages, Battery Crosby’s artillery had a range of eight miles and could fire at the rate of two rounds per minute. During World War II, these guns were assigned to the "Mine Groupment" designed to concentrate fire on the harbor entrance and minefields. Throughout this period, Battery Crosby was manned by the Sixth Coast Artillery Regiment, Battery "B". In 1943, the War Department officially closed the battery and its guns were scrapped.

Origin of Name

Battery Crosby was named in honor of Lieutenant Franklin B. Crosby, Fourth Artillery, who was killed in the Civil War battle at Chancellorsville, Virginia in May 1863.

 
Battery Crosby today
Battery Crosby gun emplacement #1 as it appears today. The covered area to the left is the ammunition hoist facility. Point Bonita at the Marin Headlands is visible across the bay.
National Park Service, GGNRA
 

Access and Current Condition

Battery Crosby is located on the coastal bluffs just north of Baker Beach. It can be reached via a foot trail extending several hundred yards west from the Coastal Trail and Lincoln Boulevard. Parking along Lincoln is limited. The interior magazines are not open to the public.

Encroaching vegetation was recently removed from around the battery and preservation work to stabilize the battery’s condition is ongoing.

 

Did You Know?

The San Francisco National Cemetery at the Presidio

The National Cemeteries Act was based on the principles articulated by President Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address--"that these dead shall not have died in vain." Passed by Congress in 1863, the law established thirteen cemeteries to inter veterans of the Armed Forces and their families.