slgwv's photos with the keyword: Golden Gate

Where the ammo was stored! Presumably where one of the cannons was mounted. For more on Battery Mendel see here: www.ipernity.com/doc/289859/49738982/in/album/1264428

What it says!

Presumably where one of the cannons was mounted. For more on Battery Mendel see here: www.ipernity.com/doc/289859/49738982/in/album/1264428

Battery Mendel, named for US Army engineer George H. Mendel, is part of a complex of old coastal fortifications, called Fort Barry, on the north side of the Golden Gate. They were the counterpart of those at the Presidio on the south side: www.ipernity.com/doc/289859/49792646 Battery Mendel was constructed in 1905 and, altho rapidly outclassed by newer batteries, nonetheless remained in service till 1943, whereupon the cannons were sold as scrap, presumably for the war effort. Its cutting-edge innovation for the time was so-called "disappearing guns," which would fold below the parapet after firing so as to present less of a target. The insets show some different views, as well as an explanatory sign with more information. Just a note, too--the sky isn't overexposed: that's fog! All these fortifications, like those at the Presidio, were thoroughly obsolete by the mid-twentieth century, and when the Army decomissioned Fort Barry in the 1960s it was only by a series of happy accidents that the property didn't end up developed commercially. As it is, the area is now all part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, with the old military installations managed as historic sites. The area also includes a Nike missile-defense site dating from the 1950s thru early 60s, which I'll post on one of these days--

In the Marin Headlands, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, looking southeasterly. The Marin Headlands and vicinity had hosted a variety of military installations for over a century. When the military relinquished the land in the late 60s because the installations had become obsolete, developers wanted to snatch it up. Fortunately, the land was turned over to the Park Service instead, and the area has become an incongruous patch of nearly wild land right at the edge of the metropolitan area.

San Francisco, looking north across (yes!) the Golden Gate to the Marin Headlands. "Presidio" means "fort" in Spanish--the original name was El Presidio Real de San Francisco, The Royal Fort of Saint Francis--and the fortification was established by the Spanish in 1776 to try to consolidate their claims on this part of New Spain. The Presidio was inherited by Mexico after Mexican independence, and then by the U.S. after the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. It remained an important center for US coastal fortifications for something like a century, but by the mid-20th century advances in military technology had rendered it obsolete. (Who needs coastal artillery when radar or a satellite can identify a threat hundreds of miles offshore, and aircraft or a cruise missile can then take it out?) The grounds were finally taken over by the National Park Service in 1994. Many of the old military installations are now being managed as historical sites, some of the buildings have been refurbished and repurposed as high-end office space, and some of the coastal areas by the Bay have been restored as wetlands. The concrete foundations in the foreground are from U.S. coastal batteries dating from ca. the 1890s (upper left inset). A close-up of one of the cannon foundations is shown in the inset below. None of the actual cannons or their metal mounts are left, presumably having been salvaged as scrap over the years. The prominent highway cutting across the Marin Headlands opposite is Conzelman Rd, coming out of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. I came back that way from the Point Bonita lighthouse, and took some pictures looking back this way (inset on the highway, approximately at the photo point).

On the Point Bonita lighthouse, north of the Golden Gate. They were supposed to funnel rainwater onto the lighthouse windows to wash the salt off, but according to the docents didn't work very well! For more on Point Bonita see the enclosing photo.

This building, below the lighthouse proper, housed the steam engines that powered the foghorns (more or less like traditional locomotive whistles). It's not routinely open to the public. For more about Point Bonita see the enclosing photo.

Golden Gate, California. Open to the public when the docents are giving tours. For more about Point Bonita see the enclosing photo.

Golden Gate, California. Open to the public when the docents are giving tours. For more about Point Bonita see the enclosing photo.

On the north side of the entrance to the Golden Gate. It's been operating since 1855; first with whale oil (to 1870), then kerosene (to 1913), then oil vapor, and finally (since 1927) an electric incandescent lamp. It's still in operation, but is now fully automated, the last lighthouse keeper leaving in 1982. It was the last lighthouse on the US west coast to be automated. One weekend day it's partly open for tours, with docents available, and I lucked out when I happened to be there! The light is perched on some tall offshore rocks, and is accessed by a rather spectacular footbridge (left insets). At night in a storm it must have been exciting, to put it mildly! The right inset shows some gargoyle drains over the windows, which were supposed to help wash the salt off the windows, but according to the docents didn't work very well. The building below (inset below left), which is not open to the public, used to house a steam engine which (among other things) ran the foghorns. The keeper's cottage, however, was torn down. There are still foghorns operating, but they're electrically powered and on the pylons of the Golden Gate Bridge. The conditions today show why they're still necessary! Presumably the name is a partial translation of an original Spanish "Punta Bonita," "bonita" meaning "pretty" in Spanish. It was originally a diminutive of "good" and is thus equivalent to the Scottish "bonny."

Well, yes. Kind of a cliche subject! But the sea fog makes it a bit less so, perhaps. Looking north from Fort Point toward the Marin headlands.

Ore crushing device, in which cams on a turning shaft raised and then dropped piston-like hammers, the "stamps", onto ore. They were notorious for making a tremendous racket, particularly since they tended to run 24/7. This one processed ore from the Golden Gate mine in extreme eastern California (not by the actual Golden Gate!), which was brought down by a tramway. The mine was active in the early 20th century--a bit late for stamp mills, which by then were being displaced by newer technology like cone crushers. This mill has been the object of some attempts at preservation: it's been stabilized by the cables attached to the posts in front, and has also had a lot of debris cleared off. Inserts are (1) an interpretive plaque, courtesy of E Clampus Vitus; (2) a close-up of the stamps; (3) a close-up of one stamp hopper, showing the manufacturer's name, based in San Francisco(!); and (4) the pulley in the middle of the camshaft. (3) and (4) are on the areas magnified.

On the camshaft between the 5-stamp banks on either side. Golden Gate stamp mill, California

Golden Gate stamp mill, showing one of the hoppers where the stamps stamped. The manufacturer's label reads, "Joshua Hendy Iron Works S.F. Cal." Yes, in the early 20th century there was heavy industry in San Francisco!

Golden Gate stamp mill. A ten-stamp unit--five on either side of the middle pulley!

Courtesy of E Clampus Vitus. We'll pay no attention to the fact that the writer confused "illusive" with "elusive"!