San Francisco Fort Point
Fort Point is located at the tip of the San Francisco Presidio and beneath the arch of the southern end of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. Fort Point was built by the U.S. Army between 1853 and 1861 to fortify the San Francisco Bay against hostile ships. It was rushed to completion at the beginning of the Civil War. The fort features walls that are from 5 to 7 feet thick as it was designed to withstand the bombardments of the most powerful cannon of the time. San Francisco Fort Point was designed to mount 126 massive cannon.
Rapidly changing military technology quickly made the brick fort obsolete. San Francisco Fort Point was abandoned and disarmed by 1900 and other fortifications took over for the defense of the San Francisco Bay.
The original design of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge called for the fort to be demolished, but the design was later changed to include the archway that spans over the fort. The fort was used as a base of operation during the construction of the bridge between 1933 and 1937.
The fort was occupied by the military again during World War II. The fort was used as a base to protect the submarine net that was strung across the Golden Gate.
Fort Point is only open Friday through Sunday due to retrofit construction on the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. Even if the fort itself is not open, it's still worth a visit to the site to get a good look at the underbelly of the bridge. If you walk out to the very tip of the fort (where the fence prevents you from going around to the other side), you can look down into the water and see the location where Jimmy Stuart pulled Kim Novack from the San Francisco Bay's icy waters in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Vertigo. If it's a good day for waves, you can watch some local San Francisco surfers avoid the treacherous rocks as they ride the waves that roll around the point.
You can access San Francisco Fort Point from Marine Drive (turn right off Crissy Field Avenue). You can also walk to Fort Point from Crissy Field. On weekends, you can catch the free Presidiogo shuttle, which stops at Fort Point.
