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Location DB > United States > California > Marin County > Fort Cronkhite  Name Fort Cronkhite  Viewing Options Log in to activate viewing options  Database Info created by /-/ooligan on 8/8/2007 3:47 AM last modified by Emperor Wang on 3/20/2024 7:16 PM  Viewability Publically Viewable This location has been labeled by its creator as Public, and therefore can be viewed by anyone.  Overview  Description A very nice beach to lounge on after a full day of hiking the hills discovering old military remains. Bathrooms & drinking fountains located at the main parking lot, but otherwise, nothing...  Basic Information Type: Outdoors Status: Many structures intact, site now a national park Accessibility: Hill hiking is required to visit most remains Recommendation: worth the trip  Physical Information Address Marin County, California United States Owner: National Park Service - Golden Gate National Recreation Area See a map of this location  Hazards asbestos rust steep bluffs along the coast  Interesting Features Small, nearly invisible remains of hand-dug individual soldier combat positions to huge gun emplacements & bunkers. The SF-88 Nike missile site is the only one completely preserved, though technically speaking, Nike SF-87L (now the Marine Mammal Center) & SF-88C were on Ft Cronkhite property, and SF-87C & SF-88L are on the former Ft. Barry grounds. The border between the two adjoining forts is somewhat confusing, and can be ignored.  Security Measures 24 hour guard locked gates welded doors US Parks Police, NPS Law Enforcement & NPS Ranger patrols, POISON SUMAC!!  Historical Dates Built: 1937 Closed: 1973  Required Equipment flashlight long pants / sleeves towelettes tick repellent, drinking water  Recommended Equipment  History Fort Cronkhite is an approx. 800 acre parcel of land (formerly a dairy ranch) seized by condemnation in 1937 to become a coastal defense site protecting the entrance to San Francisco Bay. Even though we were several years away from entering WWII, tensions between the USA & Japan were high, and there was a strong desire to build new & upgrade existing coast defense sites to protect important West Coast areas against a potential attack by Japan. The former ranch-land had a system of defensive gun positions built, from .30 or .50-caliber machine-gun pits all the way up to Battery Townsley, a set of casemated, 16" guns that were designed to fire 2100 pound projectiles up to 25 miles at sea in order to destroy enemy battleships, and then there were many other structures in-between, from Base End Stations for spotting, to anti-aircraft artillery, to early-warning RADAR sites. The hundred of troops assigned to this Harbor Defenses of San Francisco post lived in small dug-in shelters, as well as the many wooden barracks structures which remain today (many others have been removed), despite being 'mobilization buildings,' meaning they were built expediently and with a 'temporary' planned lifetime of perhaps 10 years or so. Fort Cronkhite's life was extended beyond WW-II by the start of the early Cold War period. While the coast defense guns were deemed obsolete, Fort Cronkhite's utility now switched to protecting the SF Bay area from hostile aircraft, first with anti-aircraft artillery, and then by the mid-1950s with Nike missile sites SF-87 & 88. The Army turned over Fort Cronkhite to the National Park Service during the formation of the Golden gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) in the early 1970s, with the Nike SF-88 missile launch site being turned over mostly intact, to be operated as a museum. Today, Fort Cronkhite is National Park Service land, open for daytime use, including the exploration of large and small military emplacements. Battery Townsley, sealed up since 1990, is now open the first Sunday of each month from noon to 4 pm for free guided tours.  Media Coverage http://www.sfgate....07/26/DD171839.DTL http://sf.metblogs...and_missiles.phtml  Future Plans Preserved as a national historic site.  Stories Add your own story  Photo Galleries Battery Townsley PSR Wed, Aug 8th, 2007 posted by /-/ooligan 10 pictures Battery Townsley Wed, Aug 8th, 2007 posted by /-/ooligan 20 pictures Misc. Fort Cronkhite Fri, Aug 10th, 2007 posted by /-/ooligan 25 pictures Nike SF-88C Fri, Aug 10th, 2007 posted by /-/ooligan 25 pictures Battery Townsley meetup Mon, Aug 13th, 2007 posted by Hoverfly 9 pictures Battery Townsley--just three Tue, Aug 14th, 2007 posted by darkstuff 3 pictures Add your own photos Mark all galleries as Seen  Web Links http://www.nps.gov...fort-cronkhite.htm http://www.nps.gov...yourvisit/focr.htm http://www.militar...g/FtCronkhite.html http://www.angelfi...ery/Townsley1.html http://www.nps.gov...e-missile-site.htm -----Links below this line were broken or dead on 3.20.2024----- http://www.nps.gov...eacoastdefense.htm http://www.nps.gov...ifications_hrs.pdf http://www.mishalo...headlands-31mar05/ http://www.nikemissile.org/site_sf88.htm  Contribute Edit this Location  Moderator Rating The moderator rating is a neutral rating of the content quality, photography, and coolness of this location. This location has not yet been rated by a moderator.  Validation This location's validation is current. It was last validated by Emperor Wang on 3/20/2024 7:17 PM.  Latest Changes on Mar 20 24 at 19:17, Emperor Wang validated this location on Mar 20 24 at 19:16, Emperor Wang changed the following: History, Status, Interesting Features, Media Coverage, Future Plans, Description, Web Links on Mar 20 24 at 15:16, fr00tCake changed the following: Latitude, Longitude, Co-ordinate Accuracy, Media Coverage, Web Links on Sep 5 09 at 22:49, Emperor Wang validated this location on Sep 5 09 at 22:17, /-/ooligan changed the following: History, Hazards, Interesting Features, Security Measures on Mar 22 08 at 14:23, Emperor Wang validated this location on Mar 22 08 at 8:44, /-/ooligan updated gallery picture Townsley PSR 028.jpg on Mar 22 08 at 8:37, /-/ooligan updated gallery picture 039 on Mar 22 08 at 8:34, /-/ooligan updated gallery picture Ft Cronkhite 024.jpg on Mar 22 08 at 8:32, /-/ooligan updated gallery picture Ft Cronkhite 006.jpg  Forum Threads about this Location   Subject Started By Replies Views Last Post Battery Townsley in HDR zer0_g 1 856 2/4/2011 9:14 PM by SoNaive  Who's been looking? 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