A view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the upper level of Fort Point. Built for the protection of San Francisco Bay between 1853 and 1861, Fort Point now sits under the Golden Gate Bridge. Originally scheduled to be dismantled to make way for the bridge, the designer added an arch support so Fort Point could be preserved.

From the National Park Service website:

“Fort Point has stood guard at the narrows of the Golden Gate for over 150 years.

The Fort has been called “the pride of the Pacific,” “the Gibraltar of the West Coast,” and “one of the most perfect models of masonry in America.” When construction began during the height of the California Gold Rush, Fort Point was planned as the most formidable deterrence America could offer to a naval attack on California. Although its guns never fired a shot in anger, the “Fort at Fort Point” as it was originally named has witnessed Civil War, obsolescence, earthquake, bridge construction, reuse for World War II, and preservation as a National Historic Site.”