Golden GateFort Cronkhite History Walk |
Brochure Fort Cronkhite History Walk - A World War II Army Post That Helped Defend San Francisco - at Golden Gate National Recreation Area (NRA) in California. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
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Fort Cronkhite History Walk
Fort Cronkhite - Marin Headlands
Golden Gate National Parks
A World War II Army Post That Helped Defend San Francisco
Fort Cronkhite soldiers stand at ease.
(Photo circa 1941)
EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA™
(Rev.Francisco
11/2010)
Fort Cronkhite History Walk: A World War II Army Post That Helped Defend San
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National Park Service
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FORT CRONKHITE
SAUSALITO, CA
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RODEO
BEACH
1 WALK STOP
North
ACCESSIBLE
PARKING
TELEPHONE
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1049
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(COAS ERY TOWN
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The Route
Length:
Number of Stops:
Time required:
Access:
About a ½ mile
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About 45 to 60 minutes
The walking route follows paved roads but watch for
uneven surfaces. There is a short hill up Hagget Street
to Kirkpatrick Street.
Welcome to Fort Cronkhite! This
former military post, which was
established during WWII and used
through the Cold War, stands at
the edge of the Pacific Ocean and
was part of San Francisco’s first
line of defense against enemy
attack. In the early 1940s, the U.S.
Army constructed hundreds of
similar wood-frame, military posts
across the country. Now, nearly 70
years later, very few unaltered
examples of this type of military
architecture still exist. This selfguiding brochure takes you on a
walking tour of Fort Cronkhite,
providing you with historic
information about how the men
at this post lived during the war.
While a specific walking route
is suggested, please feel free to
wander, exploring what interests
you most.
Below: Fort Cronkhite soldiers conduct military
training in the area that is now the paved
parking lot. (1941)
Cover photo: Fort Cronkhite right after completion. (Photo circa 1941
Be Advised
If you are in a wheelchair, or need to
minimize walking, you can still enjoy
the tour by going down Edison Street,
where halfway down on the south
side between Buildings 1057 and 1058
there is an accessible concrete pad that
offers an overlook onto Building 1049
and Rodeo Beach. Non-profit groups,
our “park partners,” occupy most of the
Fort Cronkhite buildings and visits to the
buildings’ interiors are not allowed. Please
be respectful during your visit as people are
conducting business.
Restrooms can be found at the west end of the parking lot, adjacent to
Rodeo Beach. It is advisable to dress for wind and fog.
Questions? Please stop by the Marin Headlands Visitor Center, in the historic chapel building at the intersection of Bunker and Field roads. The visitor
center is open daily from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM, or phone (415) 331-1540.
Please visit Marin Headlands at: www.nps.gov/goga/marin-headlands.htm
All images courtesy of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Park Archives and Record Center, unless otherwise noted.
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Fort Cronkhite History Walk: A World War II Army Post That Helped Defend San Francisco
National Park Service
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Battery Townsley
Fort Cronkhite
cantonment
Fort Cronkhite cantonment nestled into the Marin Headlands and Battery Townsley perched
above. If enemy attack came from the Pacifc, troops from Fort Cronkhite would man Battery
Townsley and other harbor defense installations dotting the beaches and hills. (Photo circa 1965)
Start the tour at the west end of the parking lot, near the information kiosk. Look towards
the buildings just across the parking lot.
1 Harbor Defenses of San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay, with its sheltered harbor, rich natural resources, and single mile
wide entrance, has long been recognized
as an ideal location for military defense.
The Spanish established the Presidio of San
Francisco in 1776 to protect their interests
in the bay. During the 1850s and 1860s,
the United States Army identifed harbor
defense as one of the principle means for
protecting the seacoast, and therefore the
country. After the Gold Rush, the United
States Army constructed harbor defense
forts at Alcatraz, Fort Point, Angel Island
and Fort Mason.
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Beginning in the 1890s, in order to use the
most modern military technology, the War
Department began upgrading the nation’s
seacoast forts by constructing new concrete
gun batteries and mounting state-of-theart artillery pieces. This modernization
program led to the construction of modern
fortifcations in the Marin hills overlooking
the Golden Gate. Between 1895 and 1905,
ten massive Coast Artillery batteries were
constructed and the army designated the
lands as Forts Baker and Barry. But by the
1920s, as a result of wartime technological
advances, the existing harbor defenses had
Fort Cronkhite History Walk: A World War II Army Post That Helped Defend San Francisco
become obsolete. Recognizing its inadequacies, the army declared that permanent
seacoast fortifcations should be considered essential. The army’s primary coast
defense weapon, the massive 16-inch rife,
would become the standard harbor defense
weapon against enemy ships. Mounted on
a high-elevation barbette carriage, these
artillery pieces could fre one-ton projectiles
more than 25 miles out into the sea.
During the 1930s, diplomatic relations
between the United States and Japan
eroded. The establishment of Fort Cronkhite, poised at the edge of the Pacifc
Ocean, was a direct result of the army’s perception of a need to protect the west coast
from possible Japanese attack. The Harbor Defenses of San Francisco (HDSF) was
assembled and headquartered at Fort Scott
on the Presidio. With its area of responsibility stretching 60 miles from Point Reyes in
the north to Half Moon Bay in the south,
the HDSF was charged with protecting the
coastline from naval attack, supporting land
defenses against beach assault, and ensuring the safety of friendly ships entering and
leaving San Francisco Bay. In 1937, the army
purchased 800 acres of private land with
the intent to build Fort Cronkhite. It was
the last harbor defense post under the jurisdiction of the HDSF. Military posts under
the command of the HDSF included Fort
Scott, Fort Miley and Fort Funston in San
Francisco, and Fort Baker, Fort Barry and
Fort Cronkhite in the Marin Headlands.
In 1939, as war raged across Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed a limited national emergency, launching America
into a massive pre-war mobilization effort.
Almost overnight, factories were constructed to turn raw materials into ships and
armaments and new military posts were
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established to house and train the rapidly
arriving soldiers. Much of this mobilization effort took place in the Bay Area. In
addition to the existing Bay Area military
bases, new facilities were constructed that
included the Sausalito and Richmond shipyards, the Treasure Island Naval Air Station,
and the Oakland Army Base Terminal. Existing military installations were expanded at
Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Hamilton Army
Air Field, the Benicia Arsenal, and the San
Francisco Port of Embarkation. The harbor
defense fortifcations at the Golden Gate
were also expanded, upgraded, and in
some cases, re-armed.
Now walk a short ways north of the restrooms, turn your back to the ocean and face
toward the hills. Hidden about half way up on
Wolf Ridge is one of the Army’s most powerful World War II weapons: Battery Townsley.
The walk up to the battery is strenuous and
is not included in this walking tour (contact
the Marin Headlands Visitor Center for open
hours). Feel free to visit it at your leisure;
follow the Coastal Trail, west from the Fort
Cronkhite parking lot, and allow at least 45
minutes.
Fort Cronkhite was named for the
recently deceased Major General
Adelbert Cronkhite, a West Point
graduate who commanded the 80th
Division in France during World War I.
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2 The Power of Battery Townsley
Battery Townsley was a casemated battery
that mounted two 16-inch caliber guns,
each capable of shooting a 2,100 pound,
armor-piercing projectile 25 miles out to
sea. The guns and their associated ammunition magazines, power rooms, and crew
quarters were covered by dozens of feet of
concrete and earth to protect them from
air and naval attack. This battery, named in
honor of Major General Clarence P. Townsley, a general offcer in World War I and a
commandant at West Point Military Academy, was considered the zenith of military
technology and was the result of careful,
long-term planning. As early as 1915, the
army was eager to construct the 16-inch
gun batteries at San Francisco, and by 1928,
the decision had been made to install two
batteries near the city, one on either side of
the Golden Gate straits. In 1938, the army
began construction of Battery Townsley in
the Marin Headlands.
Battery Townsley was a high security operation; civilians living in San Francisco knew
that there were batteries nearby but their
exact locations were not revealed. A battery
of this design had never been actually fred
before, so the soldiers underwent several
months of practice before fring the guns
for the frst time. The men were subjected
to endless training, often under diffcult
situations: in the rain, in the pitch dark with
all the electricity shut off, or with their
commanding offcer blocking the tradi-
Below: The construction of Battery Townsley in 1938 was a major engineering and construction
undertaking. Building this battery required hundreds of men, thousands of tons of concrete and
steel, and a small feet of construction vehicles. In order to reach the designated site, the Army
Corps of Engineers frst had to clear and shape the site with dynamite and then pave a concrete
road for the service vehicles. (Photo 1938)
Above: John Schonher, the battery’s commanding offcer, inspects Battery Townsley. (Photo circa
1942; San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library)
tional route to the battery. The practice of
dealing with any contingency ensured that
the soldiers could operate their guns at a
moment’s notice, under any condition, if
ever under enemy attack.
By summer of 1940, Battery Townsley was
ready for testing with live ammunition. The
army estimated that the projectile’s farthest
range, which was about 25 miles, would
just reach the Farallon Islands. Waiting for a
non-foggy day in July took some patience,
but fnally, the fog cleared and the test shot
was fred. As the whole mountain shook
with the power of this huge cannon, the
projectile went past the Farallon Islands,
even farther than anticipated. Battery
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Fort Cronkhite History Walk: A World War II Army Post That Helped Defend San Francisco
National Park Service
Townsley, together with Battery Davis at
Fort Funston (located south of the Golden
Gate, near the San Francisco Zoo), became
the prototypes for the army’s future coastal
defenses; the army planned to construct at
least 25 additional 16-inch gun batteries
along both the nation’s eastern and western seaboards.
Disarmed and neglected for many years,
Battery Townsley has now been partially
restored. The battery’s labyrinthine corridors and magazines are now open once
a month to the public. For open hours and
more information contact the Marin Headlands Visitor Center.
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Now turn towards the group of military buildings and walk about halfway down Edison
Street (see map). Most of the buildings on either side of the street were originally built as
63-man barracks. Feel free to wander in between the buildings but please keep in mind that
our park partners are conducting business here.
3 Construction of the World War II Buildings
You are walking through a former World
War II military post, where simple woodframe buildings tell a fascinating story of
American ingenuity and the nation’s ability
to create and produce quickly, under pressure. In the fall of 1939, two years before
our nation offcially entered the war,
the U.S. Army consisted of only 200,000
enlisted soldiers and there was little need
for new or updated housing. Beginning in
1940, the military started drafting men into
the army and navy; military ranks began to
swell as hundreds of thousands of draftees,
all of whom had to be housed, entered the
service. Within just fve years, the army had
risen to the challenge and built temporary
military housing for all of its soldiers—a
total of approximately 6 million men by
1944!
During World War II, providing adequate
temporary housing for these new soldiers
became a nationwide concern, because
temporary barracks for service men were
rarely satisfactory. Military feld housing
during World War I had been notoriously
bad: soldiers often lived in tents, frequently
in harsh environments, without proper
heating and sanitary facilities. By the late
1930s, Americans demanded a higher quality of life for their soldiers; as a result, the
army was expected to provide better housing for the draftees. The Selective Service
Act, passed in September 1940, specifcally
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stipulated that no soldiers would be sworn
into service until the government made
adequate provisions for their shelter.
The military realities of World War II were
vastly different than those of the “Great
War.” During World War I, American soldiers were transported to France, where
they were housed and trained at European
posts close to the battlefelds. But by 1940,
Germany had occupied most of Europe,
leaving Great Britain as the only country
available to host American troops. Because
England only had limited space to house,
maintain and train American soldiers,
transporting partially-trained American
soldiers overseas was no longer an available
option. For the frst time, the War Department needed to accommodate a substantial
standing army that would be stationed in
the United States indefnitely. As a result of
men enlisting or being drafted, the army
swelled to 400,000 by November 1940 and
by February 1941, another 700,000 had
joined them. The army needed immediate
plans for accommodating all these incoming men.
“I can give assurance to the mothers
and fathers of America that each and
every one of their boys in training will
be well housed.”
Above: Construction of a one-story recreation building at Fort Cronkhite. The World War II “standard mobilization building plans” contained designs for over 300 structures, including offce buildings, warehouses, garages, libraries, chapels, fre stations and housing—essentially, any building
type the army might need for the war effort. (Photo 1941)
—President Franklin Roosevelt, 1940
Fort Cronkhite History Walk: A World War II Army Post That Helped Defend San Francisco
National Park Service
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The army’s two construction divisions, the
Quartermaster Department and the Corps
of Engineers, were immediately given the
job of providing housing, quickly and
cheaply. They established fve principles
to guide mobilization construction plans:
speed, simplicity, conservation of materials,
fexibility and safety. Using these principles,
the construction divisions were directed to
draw up standard building plans for simple
wood-frame structures. The buildings were
made with inexpensive and prefabricated
materials and could be constructed in
assembly-line fashion. The standard plans
were bundled into construction packages
that could meet the needs of a 125-man
company, complete with barracks, mess
halls, and recreation and supply buildings.
These structures, which now included central heating, interior showers and latrines,
and other modern conveniences, were recognized as being far superior to the World
War I tents.
Construction took place at break-neck
speed as a result of readily available labor
resources and ingenuity with building
materials. Construction crews at Fort Ord
in Monterey, California, boasted that they
could fnish a building every 54 minutes.
By June 1941, the army had built housing
for 1.2 million men. By June 1942, they
were able to accommodate 2.4 million men
and by January 1943, 4.6 million men were
housed within these types of wood-frame
buildings.
Continue down Edison Street until you reach the corner of Hagget Street. Look towards Building 1059 to your right. The army assigned “T”s to buildings that were considered temporary.
4 Life in an Army Barracks
In front of you is Barracks Building 1059,
one of the most commonly found World
War II building types. It was designed to
accommodate up to 63 men in single bunks,
or 126 men in bunk beds. So that the army
could ft as many men into one building as
possible, the barracks’ interior arrangement
ensured economy of space, with windows
that could be opened for adequate ventilation on opposing sides of the room.
Uniformity and discipline went hand-inhand in the army. All the soldiers had to
maintain their bunks, their lockers, and
their clothes in precisely the same manner.
One soldier was designated as the
National Park Service
‘barracks orderly’ whose duties included
inspecting the barracks everyday to ensure
compliance with regulation, maintaining a
fre watch, and preventing theft.
From Building 1059, follow the concrete path
at the north side of the building that leads
down to Building 1049 below you (see map).
Be careful of the uneven steps and overgrown
pathways and avoid walking along Mitchell
Street. If you cannot negotiate the path or
hills, you can read the remaining four stops
from this location.
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Above: The interior of a typical World War II barracks consisted of two large open rooms with folding cots that alternated head-to-toe for health purposes. Uniforms were hung either on brackets on
the wall or stored in standing lockers. (Photo circa 1942; National Archives, Record Group 111)
National Park Service
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Right: The soldier’s locker,
used to store all personal
items, stood at the end of
each bunk (thus its name
“footlocker.”) Standard-issue
items included extra clothes,
razor and razor blades,
shaving brush, toothbrush,
soap, socks, stationery, and
cigarettes. Note the polished shoes, aligned neatly
underneath the cot. (Photo
circa 1941; Ft. Lewis Military
Museum, Ft. Lewis, WA)
5 A Soldier’s Life at Fort Cronkhite
Building 1049 was one of Fort Cronkhite’s
several mess halls where soldiers ate three
meals a day. One cook was assigned to each
grouping of three barracks and soldiers on
KP (Kitchen Patrol) duty helped prepare
the food. Army food was usually cheaply
prepared and of inconsistent quality, but
special menus were created for holidays.
The 1941 Christmas Dinner menu for the
Harbor Defenses of San Francisco included
roast turkey with oyster dressing, candied
sweet potatoes, spinach with hard-boiled
eggs, mince and pumpkin pies, mixed nuts,
coffee with fresh milk and cream (a refreshing break from powdered milk), and cigars
and cigarettes for all.
Left: Barracks inspections were a daily
part of army life. Here, a soldier stands at
attention next to his equipment, including a gas mask (right), and eating utensils
(left). (Photo July 1941; National Archives,
Record Group 111)
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Fort Cronkhite History Walk: A World War II Army Post That Helped Defend San Francisco
The frst soldiers stationed at Fort Cronkhite
were assigned to the 6th and 56th Coast
Artillery Regiments. A soldier’s life at Fort
Cronkhite, as anywhere in the army, meant
that you did what you were told to do. A
soldier’s daily life on post was structured
and regimented; they were required to drill
and train, eat and clean their barracks, all at
tightly scheduled times. The soldiers trained
constantly, either up at Battery Townsley or
on the post’s main parade ground, which
was located in the large open space that
is now a parking lot. Fort Cronkhite, like
most World War II posts, provided the men
with the bare necessities for military life. In
addition to providing food and housing, the
army also provided medical and dental care
to the soldiers; there was even an on-post
barber.
National Park Service
While off-duty, the men relaxed in the
recreation building (called “day rooms”),
where the army provided ping-pong tables,
pool tables and popular reading material.
The newly-constructed chapel at Fort Barry
provided multi-denominational services and
the chaplain sponsored dances and stage
shows for the men. To maintain morale
among the troops and provide muchneeded breaks from foggy Fort Cronkhite,
the army awarded leave passes to soldiers
who eagerly traveled to Sausalito or took
buses into soldier-friendly San Francisco.
One troop of African-Americans, labeled by
the army as the 54th Coast Artillery Regiment (colored) were briefy assigned to Fort
Cronkhite. African-American soldiers during
World War II had a very different military
experience than their white soldier counterparts. The U.S. Army’s offcial policy of
segregation refected American society at
that time. African-American soldiers were
organized into all-black units, frequently
commanded by inexperienced white offcers. Based on the army’s assumption that
black and white soldiers could not achieve
the camaraderie required to fght successfully alongside each other, black soldiers
were initially not allowed into combat. Most
African-American troops were assigned to
service and support roles and only later in
the war were they allowed into battle. They
were also not offered the same military and
technical training as the white soldiers. On
post, black soldiers were not allowed into
the same army facilities as the white soldiers
and were frequently relegated to inferior
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Left: This photo of a World War
II mess hall shows the sparse and
orderly nature of the army’s eating facilities. The KP duty soldiers
preparing for the next meal, are
setting the tables; they would also
serve the food and bus the dishes.
The inside of 1049 looked like
this in WWII. (Photo circa 1941;
Fort Lewis Military Museum, Fort
Lewis, WA)
Above: This photo shows the 54th Coast Artillery Regiment, stationed at Fort Cronkhite.
(Photo circa 1942)
Right: As per regulations, each mess hall was
equipped with standardissue dishes, cutlery, and
stemware. The kitchen
was fully equipped with
ovens, stoves and refrigerators, and often boasted
equipment such as cereal
cookers, ice cream freezers, coffee pots, and
dishwashers. (Photo circa
1942; National Archives,
Record Group 111)
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Fort Cronkhite History Walk: A World War II Army Post That Helped Defend San Francisco
housing located at the edge of the army
post. During and after World War II, civil
rights groups worked tirelessly to balance
the army’s racial inequalities and injustices.
In 1948, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981 which ensured that “there
shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services
without regard to race, color, religion or
national origin.”
National Park Service
Please retrace your steps back towards the
east side of Building 1049 and stand near the
fagpole, facing Building 1045). The cluster of
buildings in front of you functioned historically as the post’s town center. Building 1045
was built in 1942 and served as the fre station. Building 1046 was the post exchange,
which operated like a small general store
where soldiers purchased food, cigarettes and
magazines. Building 1033, located up the hill,
was the post headquarters, where the commanding ofcer had his ofces. Now turn
towards the ocean and scan the skies. Imagine
what it would feel like to be stationed at Fort
Cronkhite and anticipating an enemy attack
at any time.
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6 San Francisco on High Alert!
On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941,
Japan attacked the U.S. Navy bases at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii. Fearing that the next attack
could be on San Francisco, the HDSF immediately issued a command to “man all guns”.
The men at Fort Cronkhite immediately fell
into formation and reported to their duty
stations at Battery Townsley and the beach
defenses. Because it was December, thousands of soldiers had already been granted
travel leave. By that Sunday afternoon, the
army announced in newspapers and on the
radio that all leave and furloughs had been
cancelled. Across the country, coast artillery
soldiers on holiday immediately returned to
their post.
The Harbor Defenses of San Francisco were
put on “A” alert, which required the guns
to be operational and able to open fre at
a moment’s warning. Literally overnight,
the soldiers’ lives went from one of daily
tedious training to real military action
requiring all their focus and skill. At Fort
Cronkhite, the soldiers manned Battery
Townsley in 24-hour shifts.
During training, because the Fort Cronkhite
cantonment was a 15-minute walk away,
soldiers manning Battery Townsley had
slept in pup tents set up on the nearby hill.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the army
became acutely aware of the need for fast
response. To facilitate getting the battery
Below: A Fort Cronkhite soldier in position, operating an antiaircraft machine gun.
(Photo circa 1941)
Above: Operating a 16-inch battery required a crew of more than a hundred men. This photo shows
several Coast Artillery soldiers loading the 2,100-pound projectile into the breech of the huge gun.
(Photo circa 1941; San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.)
into action as quickly as possible, the commanding offcer installed bunks for more
than 150 men in the battery’s halls and
galleries. The soldiers also dug a series of
underground rooms along Wolf Ridge,
adjacent to a trio of antiaircraft guns overlooking the battery. These underground
quarters provided space for the men to eat
and sleep, as well as for ammunition storage. The winter of 1941–1942 tested the
mettle of these troops. Not only did they
live with the fear of enemy attack and
imminent action, they also had to live and
function in the harsh environment on windswept Wolf Ridge.
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Fort Cronkhite History Walk: A World War II Army Post That Helped Defend San Francisco
National Park Service
The army also built concrete and steel
lookout posts, technically called “fre-control stations” because they helped direct
the batteries’ gun fre. The Fort Cronkhite
soldiers manned these fre-control stations
that were half buried in the hillsides along
the coastline. Each man took a four hour
shift, straining his eyes at the dark Pacifc
Ocean through special high-powered telescopes. If they detected enemy ships, they
would phone in the coordinates to their
counterparts working the big guns.
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Once on high alert, Fort Cronkhite soldiers manned their guns around the clock. This photo shows
the men’s sleeping arrangements on Wolf Ridge, in a temporary corrugated metal shed, similar to a
Quonset hut, built into the side of the hill. (Photo 1942)
These cold, wet, and unlit
observation stations had no
latrines or heat; strict compliance with the black-out order
required complete darkness all
night long. Every few days, the
soldiers stationed back at Fort
Cronkhite would truck food
and provisions up the hill to
replenish the men stationed in
the observation stations. In the
event of an emergency night
time delivery, some unfortunate soldiers were assigned
the dangerous task of driving up Mt. Tamalpais during
the black-out, which meant
navigating the trucks on steep,
curvy roads in the pitch dark
without headlights.
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Living with the constant fear
of enemy attack made for a
very tense winter for everyone
in the Bay Area. Almost overnight, the city of San Francisco
was thrown into wartime
life. All the nearby cities were
forced to observe the nighttime blackouts. Soldiers and
sailors fooded the city on their
way to and from various posts.
Army guards were posted
on the Golden Gate Bridge
to guarantee its safety. Security at the military posts was
strictly enforced; guards were
given “shoot-to-kill” orders for
anyone who did not stop and
provide the correct password.
Opposite page, left:
To prepare for possible
hand-to-hand combat,
Fort Cronkhite soldiers
were outftted with bayonets. (Photo circa 1942)
Opposite page, right:
Fort Cronkhite Seargent
Carroll Lundeen, is shown
here training with portable communications.
(Photo circa 1941-1942)
Fort Cronkhite History Walk: A World War II Army Post That Helped Defend San Francisco
National Park Service
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Above: Fort Cronkhite soldiers off-duty and at-ease in front of a barracks building.
(Photo circa 1942)
If you are not comfortable walking uphill, you do not need to follow Hagget Street up to stops 7
& 8. You can read the text for stops 7 & 8 and then retrace your steps back along Edison Street
and fnish in the parking lot. Otherwise, you can continue up Hagget Street to the top of the
hill and take a left onto Kirkpatick Street. On the corner you will see Building 1044, the post’s
guardhouse where disorderly soldiers were temporarily detained.
7 War Time Routine at Fort Cronkhite
By the fall of 1942, fears of an immediate
attack had faded. The alert warning for the
coastal defenses was downgraded to a level
“B,” which allowed men to sleep in their
barracks as long as they could reach their
batteries in 15 minutes. Harbor Defenses
settled into a wartime routine. This new
relaxation of regulations allowed the men
at Fort Cronkhite to crawl out of their cold,
underground homes and once again enjoy
the comfort of the centrally heated, woodframe barracks. To make their lives somewhat more comfortable, the men who were
still stationed at the bunkers and batteries
were often visited by USO entertainers or
by mobile canteens that sold magazines,
newspapers, candy, and toiletries.
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By the end of 1942, the tide of the war with
Japan was beginning to turn to America’s
advantage. Confdent that the Pacifc Coast
was now secure from enemy fre, the army
began to dismantle the harbor defenses,
and relocate troops from Bay Area posts
to the Europe and Pacifc theatres. The Bay
Area was still very busy shipping thousands
of men and millions of tons of cargo from
the San Francisco Port of Embarkation. By
the end of the war, more than 1.6 million
men and 23 million tons of supplies, food,
medical equipment and vehicles had passed
through the Golden Gate on its way to the
Pacifc islands.
Fort Cronkhite History Walk: A World War II Army Post That Helped Defend San Francisco
Above: To help alleviate boredom and boost morale, the Red Cross provided live entertainment and
refreshments directly to the men at their stations. Here, the Red Cross “Cookie Brigade” also known
as “Donut Dollies” brought cake and celebrities to the men of Battery D, stationed at Baker Beach,
Presidio of San Francisco. (Photo circa 1942)
National Park Service
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Continue to walk down Kirkpatrick Street back towards the parking lot and stop between
Buildings 1069 and 1070. On your way, notice Building 1077, the large rectangular building
on your right, which was constructed as the service club and later an informal recreation
lounge for enlisted men.
8 Fort Cronkhite after the War
Over the years, Fort Cronkhite continued to
play many different military roles. In 1944,
as men in active duty were transferred overseas, the army established the Commando
Combat School here. The school, the frst of
its kind in the Western Defense Command,
trained offcers from the U.S. Army, Coast
Guard and California State Guard in commando tactics, combat training and leadership skills.
In 1943, the invention of radar used to
detect approaching ships and planes
increased the effectiveness of the 16-inch
guns and the nearby antiaircraft guns. But
Fort Cronkhite, like so many other coastal
artillery posts, was soon to be stripped of
its guns, which had been made obsolete
by long-range bombers, missiles and the
atomic bomb. During the 1950s, Korean
War soldiers were stationed here and during the Cold War in the 1960s and early
1970s, Fort Cronkhite became the home
base for soldiers operating the nearby
Nike missile site, one of the 300 across the
nation. By this point, the army had removed
most of the eastern ha