Fort Winfield Scott
The Presidio has defended the San Francisco Bay since 1776, when Spain established a fort here. California’s gold rush expansion and American imperial aspirations in the 1890s led to heightened defense and construction of the batteries at Fort Scott, the first modern military installations using concrete and electricity. During the Cold War, Nike ground-to-air missiles were placed nearby. The seacoast defenses have never come under attack.
Three of the Fort Scott batteries — Battery Boutelle, Battery Godfrey, and Battery Marcus Miller — along with the former Nike Administration Building and the Fort Scott Chapel serve as exhibition sites for Home Land Security.