Fort Mason
Unfinished History
Fort Mason, c. 1880s.
Photo: Shaping San Francisco
Soldier tents at Fort Mason, 1918.
Photo: OpenSFHistory.org wnp26.483
The former Base Commander's quarters, part of the Fort Mason Center now.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
Fort Mason Officers' Row housing, 2017.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
One of a number of houses built in the 1850s when the eastern slope of Black Point was home to a burgeoning abolitionist and bohemian (for the time) culture in San Francisco.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
Main office buildings, art galleries, and piers, once the heart of the bustling military base, now home to museums, restaurants, and theaters.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
Old batteries at Fort Mason dating to the 19th century were part of the original defensive ramparts of the city's military perimeter.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/marc-kasky-on-fort-mason" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Longtime director of Fort Mason, Marc Kasky, describes his years making it what it is today.
Video: Chris Carlsson for Shaping San Francisco
The original shoreline, one of the few places where it still visible in San Francisco.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
Another wider view of the original shoreline.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
The original shoreline along Fort Mason in 2009.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
The north slope of Fort Mason above the old railroad tunnel, recently converted in a pedestrian friendly native species garden.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
Black Point train and tunnel, 1918, when the military would send goods to Fort Mason for shipment to military bases in the Pacific, including Hawaii and the Philippines (a U.S. territory from 1898 to 1946).
Photo: National Maritime Museum
View north from Fort Mason across Aquatic Park with the East Bay in the distance.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
The Fort Mason Great Meadow (the northeast corner of it).
Photo: Chris Carlsson
View southwest across Great Meadow from behind the Bufano Madonna.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
The Bufano Madonna in Fort Mason.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
Statue of Congressman Philip Burton, legislative architect of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which now encompasses Fort Mason.
Photo: Chris Carlsson
Photo: Chris Carlsson