11 Facts About Fort Mason

Fort Mason became the headquarters for an Army command that included California and the Hawaiian Islands from 1904 to 1907.

Fort Mason then became both the headquarters of the command that was the San Francisco Port of Embarkation and an element of that command.

The Army recognized that the relatively small port facility at Fort Mason was inadequate for supporting major wartime operations in the Pacific.

Fort Mason served as an Army post for more than 100 years, initially as a coastal defense site and subsequently as a military port facility.

The upper area, sometimes called Fort Mason, is situated on a headland and was the site of the original coastal fortifications.

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The lower area, Fort Mason Center, is situated close to water level to the west of Upper Fort Mason, and is the site of the former military port, with its piers and warehouses.

Nucleus of Fort Mason was a private property owned by John C Fremont, the explorer of the western U S, who spearheaded the conquest of California from Mexico, and ran as the first presidential nominee of the extant Republican Party in 1856.

Piers and sheds of Lower Fort Mason were originally built from 1912 to warehouse army supplies and provide docking space and a base for ships of the Army Transport Service.

San Francisco Port of Embarkation, a new command, was created on 6 May 1932 under Brigadier General Charles S Lincoln with headquarters at Fort Mason assuming command over the Army Transport Service, the San Francisco General Quartermaster Depot at Fort Mason and the Overseas Replacement and Discharge Service at Fort McDowell, California.

Fort Mason set up shop at Fort Mason, and spent exactly a year improving Army port facilities from Seattle to San Diego.

In 1976 lower Fort Mason became the Fort Mason Center, a non profit organization that provides a destination for programs, events and organizations that support and reflect the evolving cultural fabric of San Francisco and the Bay Area.