Fort Baker Station Hospital (site)

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In 1941, the Quartermaster Department constructed the Fort Baker Station Hospital on the shores of Horseshoe Cove to provide health care exclusively for the soldiers assigned to the Harbor Defense. However, as World War II continued and the action shifted to the Pacific Theatre, fewer men were assigned to the batteries. The Fort Baker Station Hospital increasingly became a branch of Letterman General Hospital in the Presidio, which provided care to wounded soldiers returning from the war in the Pacific. This 229-bed, wood-frame hospital facility emphasized physical rehabilitation and preparing soldiers to return to civilian life. The Red Cross and the Armed Forces Entertainment Committee brought various entertainment acts and movies to the convalescing men.

In the late 1940s, the Fort Baker Station Hospital was converted to the Medical Laboratory at Fort Baker. The laboratory divisions included immunology, entomology, pathology and chemistry. The armed forces of the western states sent in specimens and Army scientists conducted experiments with bacteria, chemicals, radiation and lethal gases. Much of the research here had world-wide significance, and the Army shared their findings with the World Health Organization.

The old hospital buildings were torn down in the '80s.

www.nps.gov/goga/planyourvisit/upload/sg-foba-horseshoe...