Fort Rosecrans

Millard Fillmore set this end of the peninsula aside for the government in 1852, seventeen years before anyone did anything with it. The whalers working the beach below were cleared off between 1870 and 1873 to make room for the post. The plaque fifteen metres away says the government acquired the property in 1869; these two bronzes were cast six years apart and do not quite agree. The name arrived in 1899, for a Civil War general who later sat in Congress for California.

What the plaque says

Fort Rosecrans President Millard Fillmore's executive order of 1852 created a U.S. preserve on Point Loma. From 1870 to 1873 the Coast Artillery corpsmen evicted whalers from the site in order to begin the military installation. In 1899 it was named for William S. Rosecrans, Civil War general and California congressman. Major fortifications were constructed in 1891-1903 and 1941-1943. Transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1957, it became a submarine support facility. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 62 First registered Dec. 6, 1932. Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Navy and Squibob Chapter, E Clampus Vitus, March 21, 1993.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Site of Fort Guijarros — steps away
• Ballast Point Whaling Station Site — steps away
• Cabrillo Landing Site — steps away
• Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery — 0.6 mi