Castillo de San Joaquin

San Francisco County · Fort Point, San Francisco · location approximate

The first ship to enter San Francisco Bay, the San Carlos (Captain Ayala), dropped anchor off this point August 5, 1775. Lieutenant-Colonel Don Juan Bautista de Anza planted the cross on Cantil Blanco (white cliff) March 28, 1776. The first fortification, Castillo de San Joaquín, was completed December 8, 1794, by José Joaquín de Arrillaga, sixth Governor of California. In 1853 United States Army engineers cut down the cliff and built Fort Point, renamed Fort Winfield Scott in 1882. This fort is a partial replica of Fort Sumpter and is the only brick fort west of the Mississippi. Its sea wall has stood undamaged for 100 years.

1971 register text, presented as a historical document. It uses the period's terms for Native people; the state's landmark listings still carry most of this wording, and the California Office of Historic Preservation maintains the program's current texts.

Many of these plaques have since been recast or their texts revised. The California Historical Landmarks program and its current texts are maintained by the California Office of Historic Preservation. California Office of Historic Preservation ↗

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Marker data: State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, California Historical Landmarks (1971)

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