Battery Osgood (Los Angeles, California)

 military, fortification, historic landmark

Battery Osgood-Farley was constructed during the years 1916-1919 under the fortification program outlined by the Taft Board Report of 1906. Although constructed as a single two-gun emplacement, each gun was originally designated as a separate tactical battery, hence the two names. Later, the battery was considered to be a single tactical unit.

These 14-inch disappearing guns could fire a 1560 pound projectile fourteen miles out into the Catalina Channel. Full caliber firing practice was rare, however, because of the damage caused by the concussions to nearby residences. Battery Osgood's gun was fired only 116 times and Battery Farley's fired 121 times. Even though the disappearing carriages of Battery Osgood-Farley were considered to be obsolete by the mid-1920s, they remained in active service until they were replaced by new ordnance in the mid-1940s. A section of Battery Osgood-Farley was gas-proofed during World War Two for use as a radio station and fire control switchboard room. Battery Osgood-Farley's guns were declared surplus in 1944 and cut up for scrap sometime after 1946.

The Army continued to use the rooms and corridors of the battery for various purposes with little modification until 1974. While the guns and some of the electrical equipment were removed, much of the rest of the hardware such as the doors, gates, electrical and plumbing services were left intact.

This is in marked contrast to many of the other modern era (post-1890) gun emplacements around the nation, which have been gutted of all metal, wiring and plumbing by the Army, humidity and vandals. Battery Osgood-Farley may be the best preserved example modern age coastal defense gun emplacement in the United States today. The Army recognized the historical significance of Battery Osgood-Farley and placed it on the Register of National Historical Places in 1976.

The Fort MacArthur Museum was established at Battery Osgood - Farley in 1985 and is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the history of Fort MacArthur. Fort MacArthur’s reservations hold an important collection of historical structures tied to the U.S. Army’s role in the defense of the American continental coastline from invasion. These structures, which are interpreted at the museum, clearly define the development of American coastal defenses, from the all-gun era at the turn of the twentieth century, to the modern missile era of today.


www.ftmac.org/Osgood-Farley.htm