Standing at the entrance of the Bay for 150 years, Fort Point is a great example of military architecture, of a design made obsolete by advances in artillery and ordnance. The masonry, shape of the fort and its surroundings all contribute to a pretty singular experience, and make Fort Point a great place to practice with a camera.
In fact, it seems almost impossible to take a bad shot.
Perhaps Alfred Hitchcock had this in mind when he shot Kim Novak’s attempted suicide in “Vertigo”.
One might expect a fort that is part of a defense network to be somewhat humdrum, yet this and other such sites throughout the Bay Area, is anything but. I tend to think of it as California gothic, Shirley Jackson’s words come to mind “Within, walls continue upright, bricks meet, floors are firm, and doors are sensibly shut. And we who walk here… walk alone”.
During the planning stage of the Golden Gate bridge in the 1930s, engineer Joseph Strauss came up with an engineer arch to preserve the Fort which would otherwise have been demolished, one of many efforts to preserve this piece of history.
For some time after 9/11, the Fort was off limits to the public. Today, it can be visited three days a week on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and the Park Rangers and volunteers are eager to inform.
It is also possible to take candlelight tours after dark, but reservations have to be made. And it is free as well!
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