Fort Miley Military Reservation

Fort Miley occupies Point Lobos, one of the outer headlands at the south side of the Golden Gate. The Army acquired the 54-acre reservation from the City and County of San Francisco in 1893 and began building gun and mortar batteries in 1899. Battery Chester, in the western section, held three 12-inch guns, while Batteries Livingston and Springer, in the east, were a sixteen-mortar battery later divided in two. Later additions included a 1913 searchlight power plant, fire control stations and a 6-inch gun battery completed in 1944. Most weapons were removed by 1943, though some guns lasted until about 1950. The wooden garrison buildings were demolished by 1934 and a Veterans Administration hospital now covers that central area, so the district is split into East and West Fort Miley. A 1902 ordnance storehouse survives as the last post building. The works are considered nationally significant for their role in defending San Francisco Bay.