Forte Point

            
             For our California history class we were asked to visit a historical site or museum this semester. I chose to visit the Fort Point National Historic Site in Golden Gate National Recreation Area Located in Presidio of San Francisco.
             My visit to the fort was a wonderful experience. The weather was warm and sunny, perfect for visiting and outdoor historical site. At first I was worried that the fort would being boring or uninteresting, however, upon my arrival I was greeted by a 3 story masonary marvel of 18th century engineering. I toured the museum for almost 2 hours. When I left I felt I had learned a great deal about this little known historical place in California. .
             I arrived at the museum on Sunday at 2:00 PM. Their were some park service personal at the entrance to the fort greeting people and there were also 2 people in 18th century military uniforms. The first thing that caught my attention was the massive scale of the building. I walked though 2 huge oak doors that were studded with steel bolts and though a short tunnel that had narrow slits in the bricks on both sides. The tunnel then opened into a huge yard in the middle of the fort that was open to the sky at the top. I decided to start exploring and headed off to a small door to my left. I walked into the room on the other side of the slits that I learned were called sally ports and were used by the forts soldiers to place their rifles through to shoot at an enemy that might try to enter the fort. There were many exhibits in this room about the history of the fort and when it was built. I also learned that the steel bolts in the door were to ward off axe blows from an invading a!.
             rmy. .
             The fort seemed to be a labyrinth of hallways and rooms. I continued down the hallway and into the next room, which was the main powder magazine. In this heavily reinforced room is where the forts gun powder was stored. There where large racks of replica gunpowder barrels and many displays in the room including examples of the many different type of shells used at the fort over its life span.