Historical Marker · No. 79
Presidio of San Francisco
San Francisco, San Francisco County · California
Erected by U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1963
The bronze makes the succession sound seamless. It was not. In 1835 Mariano Vallejo marched the garrison north to Sonoma, eventually leaving a single corporal as caretaker, and the adobe walls dissolved in the winter rains. The Americans who arrived in 1846 moved into crumbling ruins. The Army then stayed 148 years, long enough for the state to cast its tenure in the present tense, and in 1994 the post passed to the National Park Service, whose landmark plaque stands on the parade ground.
What the plaque says
The Presidio of San Francisco has been designated a Registered National Historic Landmark under the provisions of the Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935 this site possesses exceptional value in commemorating and illustrating the history of the United States U. S. Department of the Interior National Park Service 1963 Presidio of San Francisco Formally established on September 17, 1776, the San Francisco Presidio has been administered successively as a military headquarters by Spain, Mexico, and the United States. A major command post during the Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean War, it remains a symbol of United States authority in the Pacific. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 79 Plaque placed by the California State Park Commission, in cooperation with the California History Commission and the United States Army, September 18, 1965.
Where it stands
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