Fort Miley (San Francisco, California)

 fortification, interesting place, draw only border

www.outsidelands.org/fort-miley-va-ctr1.php --

"In 1890 the U.S. Army began to systematically modernize and reconstruct its outdated coastal defenses. Known as the Endicott Period this system entailed the construction of networks of coastal batteries at the approaches to important harbors and coastal cities. These networks of coastal defense facilities were designed to thwart potential seaborne invasions by ensuring that the field of fire would saturate every square foot of sea approaching a critical seaport or harbor. For San Francisco Bay, the Army Corps of Engineers planned coastal batteries for Point Lobos the Marin Headlands, Alcatraz, Fort Mason and other strategic points around the Golden Gate.

"In January 1893, the U.S. Army paid the City and County of San Francisco $75,000 for fifty-four acres of strategically situated Golden Gate Cemetery land overlooking the approaches to the Golden Gate. Construction did not begin right away, however. According to contemporary newspaper articles all of the graves first had to be exhumed and reinterred elsewhere. Construction of the Reservation at Point Lobos, as it was originally called, did not begin until 1897. The first buildings constructed included a half-dozen wood-frame barracks, storage buildings, an officers' club and administrative buildings. Most important were the batteries themselves. Fort Miley would eventually include several distinct clusters of fortifications, including Batteries Chester, LaRhett, Livingston and Anton Springer. In 1900 the post was renamed Fort Miley in honor of Lieutenant Colonel John D. Miley. Miley, who had recently been killed in the Philippines, had been largely responsible for the actual planning of San Francisco's network of coastal batteries.

"In 1902 Fort Miley was officially completed and garrisoned as a subpost of the nearby Presidio of San Francisco. In 1932 twenty-nine acres of Fort Miley were acquired by the Veterans Administration for the construction of a new veterans medical center. Two years later most of Fort Miley, except for the batteries, was demolished. Approximately ten barracks buildings, a mess hall, officer's club, stables and miscellaneous storage facilities were torn down to make way for the hospital and subsidiary buildings. The batteries at Fort Miley continued to operate until 1937 when plans were made to decommission what was left of the installation when it was realized that air power had rendered coastal batteries obsolete. Nevertheless, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 led to the reactivation of Fort Miley. New anti-aircraft guns were added and the post was garrisoned until 1943."