Tonight I decided that I would randomly choose a packet from my photo archives and come up with a post.

The packet I picked out had pictures from a weekend sightseeing trip with my students. I don’t know the date when the pictures were taken, but it must have been in the late 90’s as I was still using film.

I keyed in on some pictures of the Golden Gate bridge, but since most of the pictures included Fort Point I decided on the title above.

This picture was taken in the morning as we were exploring the Marin Headlands. The Golden Gate is actually the body of water (strait) that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. The Golden Gate was named by John C. Fremont in 1846, before this time it was known as Boca del Puerto de San Francisco.

In the picture we see the Golden Gate Bridge that spans the strait. The bridge was completed in 1937.

If you look carefully at the right end of the bridge you will see a building under the bridge. This is Fort Point.

This picture was taken while standing on top of Fort Point. You can see the Marin Headlands in the distance. The top picture was taken from the hill to the left, a little bit further along than what is shown in this picture, but you can see the spot in the picture below.

Fort Point was built in the 1850’s, and the first cannons were mounted in 1861. The first commander of the fort was General Albert Sydney Johnston. When war broke out he resigned and joined the Confederacy. He was killed on April 6, 1862 at the Battle of Shiloh. Johnston was a full General and was the highest ranking officer to be killed in the Civil War.

Fort Point was built at the same site as the former Castillo de San Joaquin which had guarded the Golden Gate. However, the cliff which was 90 feet above water level was blasted down so that the new fort would be near water level. The gunners could then ricochet cannonballs across the water to hit enemy ships at the water line. Reminds me of seeing how far we could skip stones across water.

Here is a view looking out under the bridge toward the Pacific Ocean. You can now tell that it is the afternoon as the sun is again washing out my picture.

I do have better pictures of the Golden Gate and also Fort Point, but these were the pictures that were in the randomly selected packet of pictures 🙂

Steven

See also: Alcatraz Island