Fort Cronkhite is one of the components of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Golden Gate National Recreation Area The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is a U.S. National Recreation Area protecting of ecologically and historically significant landscapes surrounding the San Francisco Bay Area. Much of the park is land formerly used by the United ...

. Today part of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

, Fort Cronkhite is a former

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

post that served as part of the

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of ...

defenses of the San Francisco Bay Area during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The soldiers at Cronkhite manned gun batteries, radar sites, and other fortifications on the high ridges overlooking the fort.

History

Named for former U.S. Army Major General

Adelbert Cronkhite Adelbert Cronkhite (January 6, 1861June 15, 1937) was a career officer in the United States Army. He was notable for his command of the 80th Division during World War I. He also served as interim commander of IX Corps and commander of VI Corps a ...

, Fort Cronkhite was established in the late 1930s. With the rapid military buildup of the United States in the early 1940s, tens of thousands of temporary wooden structures had to be built by the army to house its growing ranks. The army's

Quartermaster Corps Following is a list of Quartermaster Corps, military units, active and defunct, with logistics duties: * Egyptian Army Quartermaster Corps - see Structure of the Egyptian Army * Hellenic Army Quartermaster Corps (''Σώμα Φροντιστών ...

and the Corps of Engineers were put in charge of the building projects around the country. Using standard plans, all types of buildings could be built in short time including barracks, mess halls, supply depots, chapels, and recreation buildings. Many of these types of "temporary" wooden building can still be found at Fort Cronkhite today over 70 years later. The first unit to move into the fort was Battery E of the

6th Coast Artillery 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

in June 1941. The soldiers stationed at the fort manned local artillery emplacements as well as the three gun, 3 inch Antiaircraft Battery No. 1.

Battery Townsley

Named for Major General Clarence P. Townsley, who had commanded the 30th Infantry Division in France in World War I, construction of Battery Townsley began in 1938 with the excavation for the large magazine and gun emplacement on the ridge overlooking what would become Fort Cronkhite. When it was completed in 1940 and transferred to the

Coast Artillery Corps The U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) was an administrative corps responsible for coastal, harbor, and anti-aircraft defense of the United States and its possessions between 1901 and 1950. The CAC also operated heavy and railway artillery ...

it was the second 16-inch battery on the West Coast, after Battery Davis at

Fort Funston Fort Funston is a former harbor defense installation located in the southwestern corner of San Francisco. Formerly known as the Lake Merced Military Reservation, the fort is now a protected area within the Golden Gate National Recreation Are ...

. The battery was manned at all times with the men on each shift living in the concrete walls of the battery high on the ridge. Battery Townsley is open to the public every first Sunday of the month, from 12 noon to 4 PM.

Post War

During the Cold War Fort Cronkhite was used to house soldiers of the nearby SF-88

Nike Missile The United States Army's Nike Ajax was the world's first operational guided surface-to-air missile (SAM), entering service in 1954. Nike Ajax was designed to attack conventional bomber aircraft flying at high subsonic speeds and altitudes abov ...

launch site. SF-88 operated throughout the 1960s and early 1970s until it was permanently closed in 1974. Many of the older wooden buildings of the fort had already started to be torn down by the army in the previous years and with the closure of SF-88 Fort Cronkhite was closed altogether soon after.

Decommissioning

Fort Cronkhite was discontinued as a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

installation effective 10 September 1974 by General order Number 25.

Park Service use

Fort Cronkhite is now part of the National Park Service's

Marin Headlands The Marin Headlands is a hilly peninsula at the southernmost end of Marin County, California, United States, located just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects the two counties and peninsulas. The entire area is pa ...

section within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Along with nearby

Fort Baker Fort Baker is one of the components of California's Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Fort, which borders the City of Sausalito in Marin County and is connected to San Francisco by the Golden Gate Bridge, served as an Army post until t ...

and Fort Barry, Fort Cronkhite is on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. Visitors to Fort Cronkhite can take walking tours of the former army buildings and hike the many trails located in the area. Many of these buildings are occupied by private non-profit organizations and are not open to the public. Rodeo Beach, which separates

Rodeo Lagoon Rodeo Lagoon is a coastal lagoon located in the Marin Headlands division of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is in southern Marin County, California. This brackish water body is separated from the Pacific Ocean by a sand bar that ...

from the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

is located near Fort Cronkhite and is open to the public. Rodeo Beach is a popular public surfing location that is close to San Francisco.http://www.wannasurf.com/spot/North_America/USA/California/SF_Marin/fort_cronkite__rodeo_beach_/ Fort Cronkhite (Rodeo Beach). Retrieved 2015-01-26. Camping is also available at campgrounds in the Marin Headlands area.

Gallery

File:16-inch-Casemated.jpg, 16-inch casemated gun, similar to those at Battery Townsley. File:SF-88.jpg, SF-88 Nike Missiles with Fort Cronkhite visible, circa 1959. File:Fort-Cronkhite-Marin-Headlands-Florin-WLM-04.jpg File:Fort-Cronkhite-Marin-Headlands-Florin-WLM-12.jpg, Map of the Fort Cronkhite Area File:Battery Townsley, Fort Cronkhite, Marin Headlands, California.jpg, Battery Townsley

References

Notes

External links

Fort Cronkhite National Park Service website
{{authority control Golden Gate National Recreation Area Cronkhite Coastal artillery Military in the San Francisco Bay Area Military facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area 1930s establishments in California