Fort Winfield Scott (2)

Fort Winfield Scott (2) (1853-2000) - Originally a Third System brick Fort named Fort Point, established under the supervision of 1st Lt. William H.C. Whiting, U.S. Corps of Engineers, and under construction 1853 to 1861. Renamed Fort Winfield Scott after Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott, 25 Nov 1882. Old Fort Point is a part of the larger Fort Winfield Scott. The old fort was declared obsolete in 1905 and abandoned for military purposes in 1914 but the larger Fort Winfield Scott maintained an active military role until 2000. Also known as Fort Scott (1), Fort Blanco, Castillo de San Joaquin and Old Fort Scott.

Fort Point as it appeared around the end of the U.S. Civil War	Fort Winfield Scott During Golden Gate Bridge Construction

Early History

Part of the Harbor Defense of San Francisco. Fort Point was originally built to prevent entrance of a hostile fleet into San Francisco Bay.

U.S. Civil War (1861-1865)

Fort Point was designed to mount 126 massive cannon. Rushed to completion at the beginning of the U.S. Civil War, Fort Point was first garrisoned in February of 1861 by Company I, 3rd U.S. Artillery. The fort was occupied throughout the U.S. Civil War, but the advent of faster, more powerful rifled cannon made brick forts such as Fort Point obsolete. In 1886 the troops were withdrawn.

In 1882 the fort was renamed Fort Winfield Scott and over a series of reconfigurations Fort Winfield Scott came to encompass most of the military reservation at the northern tip of San Francisco.

Endicott Period (1890-1910)

The recommendations of the Endicott Board resulted in a massive construction program on Fort Winfield Scott that built some eighteen concrete coastal gun batteries over a period of thirty years. The boundaries of the fort expanded to encompass all of the new gun batteries but additional batteries to the south resulted in the creation of two new forts, Fort Miley and Fort Funston. The northern side of the Golden Gate has a similar expansion during this period at Fort Baker and with the creation of Fort Barry and Fort Cronkhite.

Fort Winfield Scott Endicott Period Battery (edit list)

Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Battery Cost	Notes
Battery Dynamite (3)	3	15"	Barbette	1894-1900-1900-1904	$ 127,137
Battery Lancaster	2 1	12"	Disappearing	1898-1900-1900-1918 1896-1898-1899-1918	$ 107,409	Part buried for bridge
Battery Godfrey	3	12"	Barbette	1892-1896-1896-1942	$ 299,862
Battery Saffold	2	12"	Barbette	1897-1897-1898-1942	$ 107,409
Battery Howe (1)	16	12"	Mortar	1893-1895-1900-1920	$ 144,247	1 mortar pit remains Pits C & D redesignated Battery Wagner (1) 1906
Battery Wagner (1)	8	12"	Mortar	1893-1895-1900-1920	Included in above	Formed from pits C & D of Battery Howe (1) 1906
Battery Stotsenburg	16	12"	Mortar	1897-1898-1900-1942	$ 130,188	Pits C & D redesignated Battery McKinnon 1906
Battery McKinnon	8	12"	Mortar	1897-1898-1900-1942	Included in above	Formed from pits C & D of Battery Stotsenburg 1906 4 mortars to Battery Howe (2) 1918
Battery Cranston	2	10"	Disappearing	1897-1898-1898-1942	$ 55,432	Buildings built into it
Battery Miller	3	10"	Disappearing	1891-1898-1898-1918	Included in Battery Godfrey	Established from Battery Cranston 1907
Battery East	2	8"	Barbette	1897-1915	$ ?	Converted Rodman
Battery Slaughter	3	8"	Disappearing	1899-1900-1900-1917	$ 71,063	Part buried
Battery Crosby	2	6"	Disappearing	1899-1900-1900-1943	$ 59,039
Battery Chamberlin	4 2	6" 6"	Disappearing Pedestal	1903-1904-1904-1917 1920-1949	$ 100,803	1 restored
Battery Boutelle	3	5"	Balanced Pillar	1898-1901-1901-1917	$ 27,030
Battery Sherwood	2	5"	Pedestal	1900-1900-1900-1918	$ 20,355	Guns & carriages to Battery Bruff 1918
Battery Blaney	4	3"	Masking Parapet	1901-1903-1907-1920	$ 20,355	Part buried
Battery Baldwin	2	3"	Masking Parapet	1901-1903-1903-1920	$ 11,120
Source: CDSG

Fort Winfield Scott Plan

World War I (1917-1918)

Between 1933 and 1937 the fort was used as a base of operations for the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.

World War II (1941-1945)

During World War II, Old Fort Point was occupied by about 100 soldiers who manned searchlights and rapid-fire 3" guns mounted atop the fort as part of the protection of a submarine net strung across the entrance to the Bay.

Fort Winfield Scott World War II Battery (edit list)

Battery Click on Battery links below	No.	Caliber	Type Mount	Service Years	Notes
Battery Fort Point	4	3"	Pedestal	1942-1942-1943-1946	2 Guns from Battery Yates, Fort Baker (1) 2 Guns from Battery Kirby Beach, Fort Baker (1)
Battery AMTB - Baker Beach	2	90mm	Pedestal	1943-1943-1943-1946
Source: CDSG

Fort Point is the only third system brick fort on the west coast of the United States.

Current Status

Part of the Golden Gate Recreation Area (GGNRA) administered by the National Park Service. A National Historic Site since 16 Oct 1970.

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Location: Under the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California. Maps & Images Lat: 37.8108 Long: -122.4769 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 15'

Sources:

• Hart, Herbert M., Tour Guide to Old Western Forts, Pruett Publishing Co., Boulder CO, 1980, ISBN 0-87108-568-2, page 31
• Frazer, Robert W., Forts of the West, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK, 1965, ISBN 0-8061-1250-6, page 34
• Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 98
• U.S.Army, Supplement to the Harbor Defense Project Harbor Defenses of San Francisco, (CCA-P-SFB), 15 Nov 1945, CDSG

Links:

• North American Forts - Fort Winfield Scott
• National Park Service
• National Park Service
• Wikipedia - Fort Winfield Scott
• Military Museum - Fort Winfield Scott
• CDSG

Visited: 22 Aug 2009

Fort Winfield Scott (2) Picture Gallery

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  The Barbette tier of Fort Point 1870